The Shakey’s Girls Volleyball Invitational League seeks to bring the action closer to its target high school fans.
The solution on hand: Make it a home-and-away format.
A source privy to the plans of tournament organizer Athletic Events and Sports Management, Inc. bared to DAILY TRIBUNE that a home-and-away tournament for its second staging is already in the pipeline.
“There was a suggestion among the organizers to make it a campus tournament. This is an exciting development because the league itself will bring the action right on the participating schools’ turf,” according to the source.
The SGVL is tentatively set to begin April.
“They plan to have the host schools schedule their home games every Friday so that there will be students present to watch the match while other schools will have their games on the weekend,” the source said.
A total of 12 teams will again be invited to join the tournament with inaugural champion California Academy expected to be back to defend its crown.
“The organizers will have strategic planning after the Christmas break where they’ll plot how to pull off the campus home-and-away format before presenting it to the tournament sponsor,” the source added.
A school can only host games if it meets the league’s facility standard.
Taraflex flooring won’t be required during the elimination round but will be provided by the league in the semis and finals.
Provincial teams, especially those from the Visayas and Mindanao are not required to host games.
“Games will be held preferably within Metro Manila or nearby provinces if possible,” the source said.
California Academy backstopped by Casiey Dongalo, Jelaica Gajero and Kizzie Madriaga won the inaugural tourney after beating Naga College Foundation in four sets in an all-provincial squads winner-take-all showdown.
Bacolod-Tay Tung took bronze at the expense of the only Manila-based high school in the top four National University Nazareth School.
