New volleyball NSA eyes national league in July

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Volleyball Federation Inc. (PNVFI) is aiming to launch a national league, which will pit the country’s best volleyball players against each other, tentatively in July.

Ramon “Tats” Suzara, president of the newly-formed national sports association for volleyball, said the PNVF Champions League will feature the top eight teams in the country in its inaugural season.

Suzara said the national league will be like the one in neighboring country’s Indonesia and Thailand.

“No PSL or PVL and no UAAP or NCAA. This will feature the top eight teams in the country including at least one from Visayas and Mindanao,” Suzara said in Filipino during Tuesday’s online session of the PSA Forum.

“We don’t have a national league. We have so many leagues but we don’t have our own federation league.”

According to Suzara, the Champions League will likely be held in a bubble if the COVID-19 pandemic remains at large.

The local volleyball scene hasn’t returned to action since the pandemic.

The Premier Volleyball League is targeting its restart with its maiden professional season this summer while the Philippine Superliga is also planning to hold its competitions later this year.