NEXT to men’s basketball, girls’ volleyball is the most marketed and supported team in the Philippines. That it failed to win a medal in the Southeast Asian Games, international sports ladder’s lowest rung, speaks volumes of the state of volleyball in the country.
There are two women’s professional leagues--the Philippine Super Liga and the Premier Volleyball League--and Larong Volleyball ng Pilipinas Inc. has called for the two to find common ground for the good of the sport.
Well, how about you practice what you preach, Mr. Peter Cayco?
Before the LVPI, there was the Philippine Volleyball Federation, the country’s national sport association tasked to handle the sport under the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) family.
But when then POC president Peping Cojuangco took a move against the PVF, replacing it with an NSA of his own choosing, the organization has been fighting for its rightful place in Philippine sports.
How crazy was the POC orchestrated attack? When it first came out, the PVF laughed at it because there was no basis, unlike the then attack on the Basketball Association of the Philippines that was triggered when a Seag bound Philippine team lost to a bunch of actors in a friendly. But months later--or was it mere weeks?--no one at PVF was laughing when the LVPI came into the picture, led by then Joey Romasanta, who had the unique position of leading two NSAs that time--volleyball and karatedo.
Now, I’ve heard the PVF has won recognition in the international body and is waiting to get recognized anew as the country’s NSA for volleyball.
Had the LVPI had the presence of mind to extend its presence outside of Manila, I think it may get the sympathy in the fight.
It’s going to be a bloody, prolonged and costly fight, given how volleyball has become lucrative in the years that PVF was away from the picture. A fight that the sport doesn’t deserve.
Going in, the PVF also has a list of scores it wants to settle, given how it behaved when it held a tournament here.
So, how about the LVPI practice what it preach? Reach out to the PVF. Unite volleyball in the country for the good of everyone.
Will that happen?
I doubt. But one can wish for something merry this Christmas, eh?