Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 3) — Sixteen top high school teams will slug it out in the inaugural Shakey’s Girls Volleyball Invitational League beginning this weekend.
Ahead of the tilt, organizers announced they are moving opening day from May 6 to 7, but matches will still be held at the new San Andres Gym in Manila.
“[W]e acceded to the request of the city government of Manila to delay the start. Maybe I can tell you the reason why we acceded to the request. The city government is going to honor hundreds of hundreds of Manila senior citizens that day,” Athletic Events and Sports Management Inc. (ACES) Chairman Philip Ella Juico said in a press conference on Wednesday.
Juico also said staging the competition for high school teams will aid in grassroots development for volleyball.
“We were hoping this is some kind of supply chain. Some type of conveyor belt. When you develop something, you start from the bottom and you go all the way to up,” he noted.
The tournament will be joined by five UAAP schools, four NCAA schools, and teams from other leagues and various provinces.
Participating UAAP teams are girls volleyball champions National University Nazareth School, runners-up Adamson University, University of Santo Tomas, Far Eastern University Diliman, and De La Salle Zobel. The NCAA squads include Emilio Aguinaldo College and Arellano University.
Among the provincial teams in the pool are De La Salle Lipa, Bacolod Tay Tung High School, and Naga College Foundation.
The 16 teams will be split into four groups, with the top two squads from each pool advancing to the playoffs. The knockout quarterfinals and semifinals will follow, then the best-of-three finals series.
Organizers said they hope to include the juniors tournament in its regular calendar every year, apart from the existing two conferences for the collegiate division.
CNN Philippines will be airing the 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. matches live every weekend.
All matches will be aired on the Shakey’s Philippines and Shakey’s Super League Facebook pages.
