V-League down to 4 teams

MANILA, Philippines — The Shakey’s V-League suffered a major blow after four teams pulled out of the competition, leaving the country’s premiere volleyball tournament with only four teams when it opens its Season 8 second conference on July 10.

Ricky Palou, president of the organizing Sports Vision, said only Ateneo, University of Perpetual Help, San Sebastian College and Lyceum were left in the roster after Adamson University and Far Eastern University begged off from competition.

University of Santo Tomas and La Salle, which missed the previous conference, also confirmed that they won’t see action just like last conference, citing the academic load of players.

Adamson and FEU also withdrew for the same reason.

But Sports Vision chairman Moying Martelino said the league won’t settle for four teams, saying they are negotiating with four more teams to join since he said the ideal number of teams is eight.

“We are still finalizing the roster of teams, and we will announce this week the four new teams,” Martelino said.

It was the biggest number of teams to withdraw in a single conference since the league was established in 2004, but Martelino said he sees a silver lining in the unwelcome development.

He said the four squads coming in are non-school based, a move that could pave way for the league planned transformation into a semi-commercial league.

For the past two years, the league has been harping the plan, which it said if realized will help the country in producing top calibre players who could put the country back in the volleyball map.

Martelino declined to divulge the names of the teams, but reliable sources said they are corporate teams.

“This could be a blessing in disguise,” Martelino said. “We might be undergoing a process of migration to the planned semi-commercial league.”

Francis Santiago, Manila Bulletin