60 teams compete in 20th BEST women’s volley

MANILA, Philippines - The 20th season of Best Center Women’s Volleyball League, one of the country’s longest-running and biggest volleyball tournaments for girls in the 13-and-under and 17-and-under divisions, got under way with 60 teams from top-ranked schools in the National Capital Region seeing action.

St. Paul’s College of Makati opens defense of the crown in the 13-team 13-U Developmental Division while Colegio San Agustin Makati will be facing five others teams in its title-retention drive in the 13-U Competitive Division of the event organized by the Basketball Efficiency and Scientific Training (BEST) Center and sponsored by Milo.

In the 17-U Developmental Division, Hope Christian High School will try to score a repeat against 20 other teams while La Salle College Antipolo will defend the crown against 19 other teams in the 17-U Competitive Division.

Making WVL more exciting and competitive this season is the participation of new teams from St. Dominic Savio College, Young Achiever’s School of Caloocan, Inc., Sisters of Mount Carmel Catholic School, Inc. and San Pedro Relocation National High School.

Welcoming the participants at the opening ceremony at Xavier High School Courts were BEST Center founder Nic Jorge, Milo sports executive Robbie De Vera and WVL commissioner Florentino “Kid” Santos. The event was also graced by Jose Romasanta, president of Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas, Inc. (LVPI) and the spokesperson of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC).

“We’re very excited to host another season of the WVL. This is a great avenue for young girls to showcase their volleyball skills and test their abilities in a major competition. With this tournament, we hope to train and produce more promising volleyball players who will dominate the game in the big leagues someday,” said Jorge.

“WVL has greatly contributed to the development of Philippine volleyball. Aside from building future champions, it also promotes sports and physical fitness to young girls. I won’t be surprised if WVL becomes a permanent fixture in the schools’ sports calendar someday and that future volleyball stars will make it from these ranks,” said De Vera.