By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
The Shakey’s Super League was formally launched Tuesday at the Shakey’s ASEANA in Parañaque with an aim to promote and develop amateur volleyball in the collegiate and grassroots level.
The first conference dubbed as a Collegiate Pre-Season Tournament will be held from Sept. 22 to Nov. 28 with 18 teams from the UAAP and the NCAA invited to compete at a still unspecified venue in Metro Manila.
Spearheading the invited teams are UAAP champion National University and NCAA titlist College of St. Benilde.
All 10 NCAA teams and six teams from UAAP have already confirmed their participation so far, with the remaining two UAAP squads expected to decide within the week.
The Collegiate Pre-Season could mark the return of Shakey’s to the volleyball scene after having supported the highly popular and pioneering event as the perpetual title sponsor of Shakey’s V-League for 13 seasons from 2004 to 2017.
The second conference will be the National Invitational Tournament from February to July 2023 where the top 12 grassroots-based teams will earn the right to represent the 17 administrative regions and Metro Manila after a series of qualifying rounds.
The qualifying rounds will be open from 81 provinces, 140 highly urbanized cities and 1,400 municipalities.
Possible host cities include Laoag, Angeles, Batangas, Iloilo, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Davao and General Santos.
Athletics Events and Sports Management Group Inc. (ACES) chairman and CEO Philip Ella Juico, as well as President and COO Adrian Paolo Laurel expressed their complete alignment with and support for the grassroots goals and objectives of the league.
Vicente Gregorio, President and CEO of Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures Inc. (SPAVI) said the launching of the league is a reaffirmation of Shakey’s genuine commitment to grassroots and collegiate volleyball.
