PVL: Experience as athletes helping Romero sisters run Capital1

Owners of Capital1, the PVL’s newest team, Mandy and Milka Romero. –PVL PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Carrying experiences as athletes and as part of a sports-passionate family, Capital1 owners Mandy and Milka Romero are eager to make waves when their team Power Spikers debut in the 2024 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) season in February.

The daughters of sportsman and Rep. Mikee Romero formally entered professional volleyball as the Capital1 Power Spikers got a warm welcome from the PVL, headed by president Ricky Palou and chairman Tonyboy Liao, on Thursday at Milky Way Cafe in Makati City.

The Romero sisters may be the newest executives in the PVL but they are bringing their energy and fighting spirit to the league. Both of them have experience in competing as athletes with Milka being a former co-captain of the Ateneo football team and Mandy, who graduated Magna Cum Laude at Georgetown University in Washington DC, a Muay Thai practitioner.

READ: PVL: Roger Gorayeb banking on experience for new team Capital1

“We’ve been young athletes, training all our lives. But also coming as team owners, what we learned from our father is how to be passionate team owners, how to care for the team, the players, the managers, the coaches, and especially the love for the sport and the game. We definitely inherited the passion for winning,” said Mandy.

“We know that it will be an uphill battle but we want to have our competitive spirit at the end of the day and that’s something we learned from our dad.

Both Mandy and Milka Romero got front-row seats to the success of their father’s basketball team in the defunct Philippine Basketball League (PBL) before joining the PBA with the Northport Batang Pier.

“My sister and I are big fans of the PVL. What we have to bring to the team is our heart. We really have the passion for it and we understand also the daily struggles of what it is to be an athlete, especially at the national level, to represent your team, the vision, and also sometimes the entire country. For us, hopefully we can create a strong bond a really a family,” added the Capital1 Solar Energy president.

Newest PVL team Capital1 Power Spikers. –HANDOUT PHOTO

Milka, the director of Capital1,  said that one thing they learned from their father and their stint as an athlete is not letting the pressure get the better of them as they enter the volleyball scene, taking the spot of the disbanded F2 Logistics.

“I experienced being a player at a very high level and I know how you just wanna focus on the game. But with the pressure and management, that’s what distracted me from the game when I was playing. So I think it’s an advantage that I can also think like a player,” the former football player said.

“We really want that culture still to be identified where we’re at. But again, we’re off to a good start and with our experience being players, managing various teams, having an expert coaching staff and of course our players.”

READ: PVL: Gorayeb, Capital1 hope to find gems in two-day tryout

“It’s also known that we have been in a sports family. We have been in a franchise in basketball, in volleyball as well and other SEA Games so the training that our father has given us I think is an opportunity for us to shine naman as the next generation that can bring our ideas into the sport, especially in women’s sports.”

The Power Spikers will bank on the experience of coach Roger Gorayeb, who chose Aiko Urdas, Jorelle Singh, Rovie Instrella, Heather Guino-o, and Jannine Navarro as their first members, in their PVL debut.

With Gorayeb tempering his expectations and focusing on having a decent first tournament after the team was only formed a few days ago, the co-owners are trusting the process and staying patient with their newly-formed squad.

“The company is new but our experiences are there and our main focus is to build our culture, build the team, and put our place in the PVL,” Milka said. “We’re taking it one step at a time. Just having the opportunity to join the PVL, we’re already grateful. Everything else is a bonus.

“We want to win of course, that’s why everybody’s here. It’s the most competitive league and sport but our footing is given to the experts and I think that relationship is something that we expect on our end but of course, we have bigger visions for Capital1 Power Spikers.”