Imports won’t be around in the PVL this year
FOR the second straight year, the Premier Volleyball League will not have an import-laden conference.
Due to the continuing travel restrictions, PVL president Ricky Palou said that it is not feasible for the now professional league to hold the Reinforced Conference this year.
Also, the PVL is aligning its schedule with the Philippine National Volleyball Federation and its preparations for both the 31st Southeast Asian Games and, if things fall into place the, the 2021 Asian Senior Women’s Championship.
The biennial games in Hanoi is slated on Nov. 21 to Dec. 2, while the continental championship for women is set on Aug. 29-Sept. 5.
“We feel that there will be one tournament this year basically because of the Southeast Asian Games being in November. We won’t have time for a second conference,” said Palou in an interview with radio-web show “Power & Play” on Saturday.
“Our Reinforced Conference will probably be moved to sometime next year,“ the PNVF Executive Board member added.
PetroGazz is the reigning Reinforced Conference champion, having won the tournament in 2019. The PVL has scrapped its entire 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Currently, the league is plotting to hold its Open Conference in July-August.
With INSPIRE Sports Academy in Calamba is no longer a lock to host the conference, the PVL is also looking at Subic so that the national team players are just in one area.
“We are still figuring out the cost since we are now looking at either INSPIRE Sports Academy, Subic, or other areas. We are still comparing the cost of the venues,” said Palou.
“All the teams have been supportive, everyone wants to start the games,” he added.
Also, the league and its clubs have already decided the tournament format.
For the Open Conference, each of the 12 teams will get to face each other as the tournament will follow a single round-robin format with three matches being played in a day.
The top four teams will advance to the semifinals.
“This conference, we are looking at seven to eight weeks. With 12 teams, a single round-robin will take about five weeks,” said Palou.
“We are having three games a day just to cut the tournament a little bit shorter,” he added.
The PVL hopes to open the 2022 season in April, with the Reinforced Conference set to begin in October 2022 if the country’s public health situation improves.
