ON Monday, Strong Group Athletics kicked off the week with a statement to media announcing its appointment of Jerry Yee as new coach of its PVL team, originally called SGA and renamed Zus Coffee, as well as its signing of four graduating players from Yee's NCAA team, the College of St. Benilde.
These movements seem routine enough, except that they come at the precise time that the pioneering volleyball league is rushing to put in place ground rules for its first-ever rookie draft. The precise time, too, when they are trying to put out the growing firestorm over midnight deals that have sparked concerns about "collusions" among sister teams in its fold.
READ This early, PVL plans safeguards vs 'collusion' between sister teams
The PVL, you see, has not one, not two, not three, but no less than four sister teams: Creamline and Choco Mucho, Akari and Nxled, Cignal and PLDT, and Zus Coffee and Farm Fresh.
As early as last year, PVL head Ricky Palou had seen the inherent danger that comes with multiple ownership. He should. The former PBA player and banker used to be a top executive of the PBA, where mounting problems brought about by connivance among sister teams bred new terms like "Sagip Kapamilya" and "farm team."
"There is no sign [of connivance among sister teams] right now in our league, but we have to guard against it starting now," Palou told SPIN.ph in June 2023.
PVL's worst nightmare coming true
Fast forward to 2024, and Palou's worst fears appear to have come true. As he and the PVL management team burn the midnight oil putting in place the ground rules to govern the rookie draft and the conduct of sister teams in the future, three movements have already sparked controversy.
The first was the multi-titled team Creamline acquiring Bea de Leon and Denden Lazaro from Choco Mucho last January 9. Right there, Palou admitted, the transfer raised a red flag and he vowed to address the situation before it got out of hand.
Not five months later, on May 20, Akari announced a swap of coaches and multiple players with sister team Nxled. The deal was so contentious, Palou said he stood against its approval, only to be "outnumbered" when the issue was put to a vote within the PVL management team.
Now comes the bid to realign resources in two sister clubs, Zus Coffee and Farm Fresh, beginning with the transfer of Yee to Zus Coffee.
Are the deals aboveboard?
Contacted for comment, the PVL said the Sports Group Athletics' deals were given the green light because no league rules were broken. The commercial pro league, after all, does not have a rule banning the transfer of coaches even when sister teams are involved.
Meantime, the league explained that the four graduating Benilde stars —NCAA MVP Cloanne Mondoñedo, Gayle Pascual, Michelle Gamit and Jade Gentapa— had already played for Farm Fresh in the PVL last season under special licenses granted by the Games and Amusement Board (GAB).
There is a rule that says all graduating players at the end of the college volleyball season are expected to go through the rookie draft. However, the PVL argued, players who had previously seen action in the league are no longer required to do so.
READ All you need to know about the inaugural PVL Rookie Draft
That takes care of the legality of the signings, but questions continue to cloud the SGA move, especially after Yee himself admitted that they fielded Mondoñedo & Co. in the PVL last year precisely to get the four to avoid going through the draft.
The gambit, he added, had the consent of the league.
“Yung apat, we tried iwasan draft system, so naglaro na sila one full conference last year, sa Farm Fresh na sila and considered as part of the expansion team,” Yee told the Philippine Star about the SGA deals. “Meron na sila arrangement with PVL, so yung apat tuloy na sa expansion team.”
With the gray areas in the rules showing and the problems with protocol mounting, PVL officials are counting down the days before the league officially enforces all ground rules on sister-team transactions before the rookie draft is institutionalized on July 6.
Until then, PVL officials can only hold their breath that no more of these slick, but controversial, movements happen. Otherwise they'll have a much bigger problem to deal with in the long term.
How big?
Think PBA.
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