Willie Marcial —PHOTO COURTESY OF PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial and his staff inspected three possible venues in Batangas that could host practices if the league gets the necessary government clearance to push through with the 2021-22 season, as per PBA.ph.
Marcial conducted ocular visits at Lyceum-Batangas Gym, Batangas City Coliseum, and Batangas State University Gym on Friday as the league prepares for another season amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The visits were done after the league met with Mayor Beverley Dimacuha, Rep. Marvey Mariño and Batangas State U president Dr. Tirso Ronquillo.
Apart from the three Batangas venues, NLEX head coach Yeng Guiao is also looking at gyms in Ilocos Norte, Clark, and Subic as possible practice facilities.
The PBA is looking to get its 12 teams to start practicing and getting into scrimmages by mid-May as the league hopes to start the season in June.
A June start could allow the PBA to hold a two-conference season, one more tournament from the 2020 edition wherein the Philippine Cup was the only competition played in Clark, Pampanga.
Marcial said that the original plan is to have a double-round robin format for the import conference but he and the league would rather play two single-round robin tournaments.
“It would already be a single-round-robin elims for both the first and the second conferences,” said Marcial.
The PBA, however, must need the proper clearance from the government to allow the teams to practice.
After meeting with Malacañang, Marcial said that they would only be given clearance if the COVID-19 situation in the Philippines gets better.
As of Thursday, there are 63,170 active COVID-19 cases with 6,637 new ones getting recorded.