National volleyball U18 tournaments set

PNVF set to stage National U18 Championships for Boys and Girls tournaments in coming months. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) will kick off the year 2023 with a pair of junior tournaments in February and March.

Federation president Tats Suzara announced on Thursday that they will stage the first PNVF National U18 Championships for Boys and Girls, scheduled on February 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, and 26 and March 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, and 12.

Both U-18 tournaments will be held at Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila and PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.

Suzara said the tournament will be part of the national youth teams’ selection,

“This is to reactivate the grassroots and age-group competitions which will also be the basis of the selection of national age-group teams,” Suzara said as inquiries and registration are available at the PNVF website.”

The PNVF will also host the Volleyball Nations League men’s division anew in July at Mall of Asia Arena and will stage the third season of the Champions League in November.

The federation also forged a training partnership with the Japan Volleyball Association for the national indoor and beach volleyball squads ahead of the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia in May.

The PNVF had a busy 2022 after hosting both men’s and women’s legs of the VNL in June at Smart Araneta Coliseum. Creamline also represented the country in its hosting of the Asian Volleyball Confederation Women’s Cup, finishing sixth place last August.

The second season of Champions League was held last November at PhilSports Arena and the hosting of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures in Subic last December with Sisi Rondina and Jovelyn Gonzaga winning gold and Jen Eslapor and Dij Rodriguez settling for silver in an All-Filipino final.