AFTER nearly a decade of operating under a semi-professional setting, the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) is all set to go full time as a professional league as it continues to bat for the growth of volleyball in the country.

In a joint virtual press conference with the Games and Amusement Board (GAB) on Friday, the PVL officially announced that it has gotten its professional license and now in the process of planning for its moves forward.

“I would like to thank the team owners for supporting the decision to turn the PVL as a professional league. It took time for us to do so but we finally came to a decision to turn pro,” said Ricky Palou, president of Sports Vision, the organizer of the PVL.

“This is a milestone for the league. We had this discussion since 2016, but we felt at the time we were not yet ready as most of our players were students. But right now we think we have enough players to turn professional. We are ready and looking forward to it,” he added.

The PVL traces its roots to the Shakey’s V-League in the 2000s, which featured collegiate teams from University Athletic Association of the Philippines, National Collegiate Athletic Association and Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation and other associations.

In 2011, it turned semi-pro by welcoming corporate and non-school-based teams.

The PVL currently has over a dozen teams, both corporate and collegiate, competing in tournaments it stages.

Unfortunately for the league, 2020 turned out to be a lost year for it because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Notwithstanding its professional status now, the PVL said the mission is still the same—develop the skills of the players further.

“In the past, we had a commercial league and a tournament featuring collegiate teams. We will maintain that. We have two commercial conferences — one with foreign players and another without — and one collegiate tournament,” said Mr. Palou.

The PVL is eyeing a February start for its first season as a professional league.

Mr. Palou said the teams have expressed their commitment to the league to be professional in their affairs with the end view of taking the sport to another plane in standing especially coming off the effects of the pandemic. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

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