ALAS Pilipinas players will not be allowed to play in the PVL while the national team season is ongoing.
“All WNT [women’s national team] players aren't allowed to play during WNT season,” Alas head coach Jorge Souza de Brito told SPIN.ph.
As per the FIVB calendar and upon confirmation by de Brito, the national team period runs from May 15 to October 15.
This means that there won’t be any PVL action just yet for the likes of top draft pick Bella Belen (Capital1) and returning setter Jia de Guzman (Creamline), among others - at least for the next four months.
READ: Jia de Guzman confirms she's returning to play for Creamline
Within that period lies the upcoming PVL on Tour with multiple stops nationwide from June 22 to August 16.
If the league’s initial plans push through, the first few weeks of the Reinforced/Invitational Conference around late September will also be covered by the national team period.
The club season, the window in which national teams can rejoin their club teams, runs from October 16 to May 14.
Alas in SEA Games
By then, the national team’s next dilemma will arise.
The 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Thailand this December falls within the club season in which pro and college teams aren’t required to lend their players to the national team.
This because the SEA Games isn’t an FIVB or AVC event per se.
While the PVL aims to wrap up its year-ending conference before the SEA Games, it will still be up to the teams on whether they’ll lend their players who’ll be called up to the biennial meet.
"I need to talk to the PVL, and the clubs themselves because the SEA Games falls on the club season," Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) president Ramon 'Tats' Suzara said.
"If Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam adjust their club season, why not us? Hindi rason ‘yun na dahil may club season, hindi mag-adjust. It’s a matter of cooperation. You train maybe three times a week sa club, then twice lang sa national team, that’s good enough."
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