The Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) is set to stage a Champions League that will feature teams from all over the country in November.

The women’s tournament will be played on November 13 to 19, while the men’s team will run from November 20 to 26.

Although nine teams have expressed their interest in the women’s side, the federation plans to limit the participants to eight teams per tournament, which will see action in 24 matches. 

PNVF president Ramon “Tats” Suzara met with the representatives of Metro Manila clubs Cignal HD, Black Mamba-Army, Sta. Lucia, Chery Tiggo, PetroGazz, and F2 Logistics, as well as teams from Baguio City and Iligan City, on Tuesday, September 14, to discuss the preparations for the league. 

The Champions League aims to bring together all volleyball stakeholders through a high level of play at a club level, according to Suzara.

The national sports association is looking to tap the Ilocos Norte Centennial Arena in Laoag City, Claro M. Recto Events Center in Lipa City, or Tagaytay City as potential venues for the semi-bubble competitions.

The tournament format will be composed of a preliminary round,  playoff rounds, and classification rounds. 

In the preliminary round, the eight clubs will be divided into two pools of four teams playing in a round-robin format. At the end of pool play, the teams will be ranked and will advance to the quarterfinals playing a cross-over single elimination round. 

The quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinals, while the losing clubs will play in the classification round. 

The semifinal winners will progress to the gold medal match, while the losing teams will tangle for the bronze medal. 

The two winning clubs in the first stage of the classification phase will figure in the fifth to sixth place match, while the losing teams will play in the seventh to eighth place match.

The deadline for the submission of 20-player rosters is on October 20.

Beefing up the team

Brazilian consultant-coach Jorge Edson Souza de Brito has already laid out plans last Saturday, September 11, to develop the national team program in the next two years. 

Together with national coaches Odjie Mamon (women), Dante Alinsunurin (men), and Dong dela Cruz (men), they look to revamp the program in physical, technical, tactical, psychological and structural aspects. 

The officials are already planning the team’s program based on the jam-packed 2022 calendar for volleyball. 

The 31st Vietnam Southeast Asian Games, which was originally scheduled in November, was delayed to next year with no further confirmation from the organizers.

The 21st Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship, which was initially set from August 29 to September 5 in Pampanga, will be played on May 15 to 22 in the same province.

The 19th Hangzhou Asian Games, on the other hand, is set from September 10 to 25.

For the men’s side, the eight-nation Philippine leg of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) will be held from June 20 to 26.

It will also be a busy domestic league season with the Premier Volleyball League holding two conferences in February and October, as well as the PNVF Champions League, which will have two tournaments in April and December. – Rappler.com

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