BROOKE Van Sickle already has a Plan B in mind if her latest try to join Alas Pilipinas Women falls through: returning to her roots in the sands for a possible national team stint in beach volleyball.
The reason why the reigning PVL MVP has long been eager to switch federations from USA Volleyball to the Philippines since her league debut last year is the abundance of playing opportunities in either indoor or beach.
“It’s not really against USA. USA is good, they’re very good at volleyball. I’m willing to make the switch, for sure. I think there's a lot of opportunities here for me in indoor and beach,” Petro Gazz’ Fil-American spiker said.
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“If I go out and play indoor, if that (Alas Women) doesn't end up working out, then I would still want to and still have aspirations to play beach volleyball. Hopefully, in one of those sports, I can represent this country.”
Van Sickle considering the sands as a potential backup plan comes from years of experience in the US NCAA beach volleyball scene with the University of Hawaii (UH), where her dad Gary also played for from 1988 to 1990.
Following a triumphant indoor swan song, the Petro Gazz ace won the best attacker award for UH in the 2022 US NCAA women’s beach volleyball tournament.
She also earned a prestigious nomination for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year honors after her successful run in the sands.
BVS’ sights still set indoors
Pending her ongoing federation shift, Van Sickle would still love to be part of Alas Women’s indoor team if that door opens first, but isn’t in a rush to get there just yet.
“I'm grateful that I'm holding an opportunity to be able to be amongst such high-level players. It would be an amazing opportunity to be able to represent this country,” Van Sickle said.
“As for the process, I'm still learning. I'm not sure exactly how it's going to go, but I definitely am very open to it. If I get the chance, then I'll do it 100 percent.
Once that day comes where she gets to don the national colors for the first time, BVS looks forward to playing side-by-side with the team’s two veteran captains in Jia de Guzman and Dawn Macandili-Catindig.
As she put it, “Player-wise, just seeing how Jia played this past year, just being able to see the type of level that she plays at is really cool. It would be awesome to be able to experience that one-on-one."
“I would also say Dawn. She’s like a super libero. She gets balls that are just insane. She’s like Superwoman."
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