PVL commissioner Sherwin Malonzo admitted he knows little about UNO L1GA, the said-to-be semi-professional volleyball league that has recently generated buzz across social media.
As promotional materials for the upstart organization circulate online, Malonzo said he has yet to receive concrete information regarding its organizers, format, or long-term plans beyond what has already become public.
“I saw the post. Not really familiar. Well, not really sure paano yung plano. Pero ang parang kwento lang sa akin na umabot, it's parang collegiate league. Well, collegiate-reinforced, parang ganun eh,” Malonzo told SPIN.ph.
“Hindi ko masyado maintindihan, pero it's a different league. Parang ang tawag nila, semi-pro. 'Pag sinabi bang semi-pro, sineswelduhan pa rin yung team? So, hindi ako masyadong familiar.”
UNO L1GA has emerged as one of the more intriguing developments in Philippine volleyball in recent weeks, with teasers positioning it as another club volleyball option outside the PVL ecosystem.
Thus far, though, details remain scarce.
The identities of the league's organizers have yet to be publicly disclosed, while information regarding participating teams, player acquisition, venues, and broadcast arrangements remains under wraps.
The only timetable that has surfaced points to a possible July opening for its women's competition.
Other option?
The emergence of another volleyball platform comes at an interesting time for the local club scene, as the PVL recently held its leanest Rookie Draft yet, with only 11 players selected from a pool of 38 applicants.
Malonzo partly attributed the unusually low number to the decreasing number of active clubs and the increasingly crowded rosters across remaining teams.
READ: PVL goes back to drawing board after only a third of hopefuls get drafted
Whether UNO L1GA ultimately develops into a viable alternative for aspiring players remains to be seen.
For now, even the PVL is still trying to figure out exactly what the fledgling league intends to be.
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