SINCE Petro Gazz’ PVL All-Filipino championship run, the limelight has been pointed sharply towards its Fil-American MVP duo in Brooke Van Sickle and MJ Phillips.
Van Sickle won her second PVL MVP nod in the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference — the first to win back-to-back conference MVP since Creamline’s Tots Carlos two years ago.
READ: BVS, MJ shut down citizenship queries, say they're proud Pinays
Phillips bagged her first Finals MVP nod after averaging 15.33 points in the three-game finals series against the Cool Smashers.
In the immediate aftermath of the Angels’ title win, Van Sickle and Phillips defended themselves from the public clamor on their citizenships and why they were allowed to compete in an All-Filipino Conference despite being half-Americans.
Such social media noise was amplified by Petro Gazz’ upcoming participation in the 2025 AVC Women’s Champions League where Van Sickle and Phillips were classified as ‘imports’ instead of local players, leaving the team with one last slot to maximize its three-import allocation for the tournament.
But why were they classified as imports by the AVC if they were already playing as ‘locals’ in the PVL?
There’s a pretty simple and straightforward reason.
Fil-foreigners can play as PVL locals
For the PVL, Fil-foreign players backed by pertinent citizenship-related documentation can represent teams as local players.
And it’s not even a new league rule whatsoever when the likes of Van Sickle and PLDT ace spiker Savi Davison entered the PVL over a year ago.
In fact, Phillips has been playing club volleyball in the Philippines for eight years now, dating back to the defunct Philippine Superliga (PSL) before joining Petro Gazz in the PVL in 2022.
Not to mention, there has been a handful of half-Filipinos in the league before BVS, before Savi and even before MJ.
PVL mainstays such as Choco Mucho’s Kat Tolentino and Nxled’s Rachel Jorvina are, for instance, both Fil-Canadians, along with Cignal star spiker Vanie Gandler whose father is of Austrian descent.
With 12 PVL titles to her name, the league’s winningest player in former Creamline ace-turned-Chery Tiggo middle blocker Risa Sato is Fil-Japanese.
Albeit in the PSL, the Fil-American duo of Kalei Mau and Alohi Robins-Hardy also competed as locals in import-less play for F2 Logistics and Cignal/UVC-Cocolife, respectively.
Federation affiliation determines AVC imports
In the case of the AVC Women’s Champions League, there’s one key determinant which led to Van Sickle, Phillips and Davison being classified as imports despite their local status in the PVL.
The Fil-foreign trio’s existing affiliations with their respective American and Canadian national federations formally classifies them in the Asian meet as ‘foreign players.’
Van Sickle and Phillips are still affiliated with USA Volleyball while Davison is still with Volleyball Canada.
Such a technicality in the competition rules — one that does not apply in the country’s domestic league — is the only reason why they are considered imports for the tournament.
And it has nothing to do with their participation or eligibility altogether in competing in the PVL as locals in the All-Filipino Conference.
To draw a parallel example, the PBA similarly considers Fil-foreign players as locals.
There’s a long list to pull out from Asia’s oldest basketball league in terms of both former and active Fil-foreign players.
But as far as active PBA players go, the likes of Chris Banchero, Marcio Lassiter, Chris Newsome, Aaron Black, Kelly Williams, Stanley Pringle, Cliff Hodge, Mo Tautuaa and Zav Lucero among many others are all half-Filipinos.
In Van Sickle’s words after the PVL Finals, all her Filipino heart desires is to heed the call of duty for flag and country with pride.
“I don't expect people to be open arms with us. I understand how they feel and I just hope that one day, they'll embrace us and just accept us," Van Sickle said.
“I don't feel any hatred towards them. I wish the best for them. I just want to be able to play volleyball, the sport I love and continue to immerse myself in this culture, our culture. I did have years back in the States where I missed out on this, and I'm really grateful to be here now and experiencing it now.”
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