PVL to release national team players only after Nov. 30 for SEA Games training

The 33rd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, from December 9 to 20, with the Philippines preparing to send one of its largest delegations ever—an estimated 1,600 athletes and officials across multiple sports.

One of the country’s top medal hopes is women’s volleyball, and Premier Volleyball League (PVL) president Ricky Palou has reaffirmed the league’s support for Alas Pilipinas. Palou confirmed that PVL players included in the national pool are free to join the national team but will remain with their respective clubs until those clubs are eliminated from the ongoing PVL Reinforced Conference.

The conference is scheduled to run until November 30, after which all national team pool members will be made available for the SEA Games training camp.

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“What the team owners have agreed on is that when the teams are eliminated, if they have players who are in the national pool, they will be released to the national team,” Palou said during a media session.

WATCH: PVL president Ricky Palou gives an update about Alas Pilipinas.

“What the team owners have agreed on was that when the teams are eliminated, if they have players that are in the national pool, they will be released to the national team,” Palou said. | @LanceAgcaoilINQ pic.twitter.com/n4OeZdySQY

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“Until they get eliminated, they will keep on playing for the team. So, what we are looking at is that a lot of these players will be playing until the championship. So, after November 30, everybody will be released,” he added.

Palou noted that it will be up to individual clubs to decide whether they will allow their players to join Sunday and Monday national team practices while PVL competition is still ongoing.

“There is no restriction. Normally, I think the schedule for those who are playing in the league, their training for the national pool is on Sunday and Monday. It’s up to them if they want to lend or not because the players are under contract. Although we are trying to encourage the team owners to lend players to the national team. If we win, it will be good for the league that PVL players helped get a medal in the SEA Games. But we are not forcing them to lend their players, it’s up to you, but we are telling them to lend their players,” Palou continued.

In addition to leading the PVL, the 77-year-old executive also serves as vice president of the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF). He confirmed that Alas Pilipinas will no longer hold overseas training camps and that changes have been made to the initial player pool.

“We have not received the roster yet, which players are in the pool. I asked them to submit that to us. We are waiting for that. They changed the pool again. They removed some and added some. I understand Thea Gagate is not in the pool now, pero in the first pool she was there. They have been changing some names,” Palou said.

The PVL has been a consistent supporter of the national program and has coordinated its calendar with the PNVF since 2021. Several PVL standouts played crucial roles in Alas Pilipinas’ successful 2024 campaign, which included a silver medal in the AVC Nations Cup and bronze medals in both legs of the SEA V.League.

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