PSL Being a Professional League Helps the National Team Program

Women's volleyball has seen a spike in terms of interest coming from the fans in the last few years thanks to the popularity of the collegiate volleyball scene in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). But, would you believe that seven years ago, a collegiate volleyball star would have nowhere else to go after their collegiate career?

In last Saturday's podcast of "Usapang PSL", Benny Benitez, along with Pinoyliga sports columnist, Vince Juico, was able to talk with Philippine SuperLiga (PSL) President Ian Laurel who is also a dermatologist by profession. One of the main talking points of the podcast was how PSL began as a "platform" for volleyball players who, back then, "had nowhere else to go"

Dr. Ian Laurel began by explaining that PSL being a platform where volleyball players could play after their collegiate career, started in 2013 and he explained that during those times, a volleyball player, who aged 21 to 22 years-old upon graduating, would have a 10 to a 15-year career that would have gone to nothingness because of the absence of the next level. While we can probably say that volleyball in the Philippines is now at the same level as that of the local basketball scene in terms of popularity but back then, the most amount of exposure that a volleyball player could get is during his/her collegiate career especially if he/she is playing in the UAAP or NCAA where games are televised. 

Since then, the volleyball scene in the country has been booming not just at the collegiate level but also at the professional level as PSL now has three conferences per year which keep volleyball fans hooked into it. 

But perhaps, PSL's biggest contribution to Philippine volleyball is that it also provided the national team program a pool of volleyball players who have been conditioning themselves year-long through playing in PSL tournaments and, volleyball players who the PSL management knows can perform better in international competitions in produce better results for the country. 

Dr. Laurel explained in "Usapang PSL" that prior to the inception of PSL, assembling the national volleyball team that would compete for competitions such as the Southeast Asian Games had to be done quickly. In Laurel's words, it was considered lucky if the national team back then would be able to train for a month but with no professional volleyball league being around at that time, the national team ended up being consisted of collegiate players in Laurel reiterated that it was "difficult for a college player to train with his/her respective school and then train with the national team" With PSL, the national team will now have a pool of readily-trained players who can answer the call of the flag should the call arrive. 

The PSL has helped Philippine volleyball, specifically women's volleyball, garnered the popularity it is now enjoying, and while the world of sports has been on an indefinite hiatus due to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic, we can expect more smashing volleyball action from the PSL once the situation allows the league to do so. After all, providing the "next level" of volleyball action is one of the things that PSL aims to do.