CANDON City has earned the coveted hosting rights for the 2026 AVC Women’s Volleyball Nations Cup.
Once held at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila last year, the Philippines will take the annual regional meet up north in Ilocos Sur following the city’s successful hosting of its first international competition earlier this year with the 5th Men’s SEA V.League.
READ: AVC Nations Cup in PH? Ilocos Sur to make it happen
Next year’s 12-nation women’s tilt will take place on June 6 to 14.
As such, Alas Pilipinas Women earn a golden opportunity to complete a hat-trick of medal wins in the tournament next year on home soil after winning bronze in 2024 and copping a historic silver in Vietnam earlier this eyar.
Concurrent AVC and Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) president Ramon ‘Tats’ Suzara was joined by Candon City mayor Eric Singson at the new AVC House in Bangkok, Thailand last week where the confederation unanimously voted to bring the competition to Ilocos Sur.
Also present at the event were FIVB president Fabio Azevedo and Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Patrick 'Pato' Gregorio.
Singson cited the need to further refurbish the city’s already state-of-the-art arena that can house as much as 8,000 spectators.
“I think we will have to improve our arena to accommodate what is needed for these international games,” Singson said.
“We are going to add two [locker] rooms for the players and we also plan to ask the private sector to put up another 40 rooms there nearby so that we will have more rooms for use for next year.
“I’m sure we will have a lot of guests coming from several places and in other countries. We have to be ready for that.”
Also being explored are the potential installation of bigger scoreboards, a jumbotron and LED screens inside the venue.
'Santorini of the North'
Pleased with the outcome of Candon’s first international tournament hosting duties in July, Suzara looks forward to have the city run it back on a bigger scale come June next year.
“Candon is a beautiful seaside city. Ang ganda ng beach. It’s the ‘Santorini of the North’ and they bring a lot of tourists,” Suzara said.
“Using volleyball as a product to sell in other countries will be good for our sport in the future. It gives [Candon City and the Philippines in general] a lot of tourism interest from other countries.”
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