Alas Pilipinas and Australia battle for third place in the AVC Challenge Cup for women in Manila on May 29, 2024. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File
MANILA — The proposed draft that will lock Alas Pilipinas players into the national team pool for at least two years might do more harm than good for the program.
This was the sentiment expressed by a stakeholder of the women's volleyball team on Friday, hours before the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) announced changes to the proposal.
The initial plan announced by the PNVF in late February would see Alas Pilipinas join the PVL Draft and select players for the national team pool.
READ: PNVF bares plan for Alas Pilipinas to select players at PVL Draft
Coach Tai Bundit will make the selections, with the players locked into a minimum two-year contract with the Alas Women once picked. The PNVF will handle the players' salaries, according to federation president Tony Boy Liao.
The proposal received plenty of flak on social media when it was announced and an Alas stakeholder — speaking on the condition of anonymity — said Friday that those within the team also had their own concerns.
"Ang main concern naming is 'yung sa draftees ... they won't be given a choice," said the stakeholder, noting that the draftees will not be playing for a club while locked into the national team contract.
"For seven to eight months, they will not be playing in any tournament. They will just be training. Sa development ng bata, game exposure is big, especially in the early years of your pro career," the stakeholder explained.
PVL president Ricky Palou has since claimed that the details of the draft have been adjusted.
According to a Spin.ph report, the PNVF will now "directly reach out to players it wants to include in the Alas Pilipinas program and ask if they are willing to join."
Those players can decline, but those who accept an invitation into the national team will be ineligible to participate in the PVL Draft — essentially locking them into the Alas program.
BAND-AID SOLUTION
When the draft proposal was announced, Liao claimed it was a way to address the issue of player availability, as the Alas Women previously had issues in completing their rosters.
For the stakeholder, however, it is a band-aid solution to the problem that has long plagued Philippine volleyball — the failure to align the local calendar with that of the FIVB.
It has been repeatedly established that the FIVB — the international federation for volleyball — has a "national team season" and a "club season." The national team season is set for May until October, while the rest of the year is dedicated to club competitions.
"[The Alas draft is] a way around answering the real issue, which is scheduling and calendar alignment in the Philippines. It's been a problem ever since," the stakeholder said.
The stakeholder points out that the PNVF should be well aware of the schedule of international tournaments, which is released well in advance by the FIVB. The local federation is expected to plan around those tournaments, but this is apparently not the case in the Philippines.
"It looks like mas pinapaboran ang pag-keep ng PVL na maging sustainable," the stakeholder lamented. "Parang naiiwan ang national team in terms of planning."
ABS-CBN News has reached out to Liao and Palou for their response to the concerns aired by the Alas stakeholder.
'COMMODITIES'
The issue regarding the PVL draft is only the latest in a string of concerns that the Alas Women have with the federation.
The build-up to their participation in the 2025 Southeast Asian Games had been "messy," according to the stakeholder, with the national team having limited preparation for the tournament.
The stakeholder alleged that the change in leadership in the PNVF -- with Liao replacing Ramon "Tats" Suzara -- impacted the Alas Women. The stakeholder revealed that the players had to pay out of pocket for basic essentials including post-training snacks.
Ultimately, the stakeholder believes that there is a disconnect between the federation and the players. There is a feeling among players, according to the stakeholder, that the PNVF is "more concerned about pleasing the club owners and sponsors."
"[The players] are being treated more as commodities," according to the stakeholder.
The stakeholder is still hoping that the Alas players will be given a seat at the table whenever national team issues are discussed, but they also hope that the federation and the PVL will be genuinely open to their ideas.
The stakeholder pointed out that there have been great strides made by the Alas Women in the past two years, with the team notching podium finishes in regional tournaments outside of the SEA Games.
However, there is the fear that the team might take a step back due to the issues they are experiencing with the national federation.
"Ang takot is matigil 'yung nasimulan in the past two years ... We want to keep fighting and continue [what we started] for the next generation," the stakeholder stressed.