Shakey's volleyball tilt to feature foreign players
MANILA, Philippines — Foreign stars are set to test the mettle of local standouts when the 2026 Shakey’s Super League (SSL) National Invitationals.
Dr. Ian Laurel, president of organizing Athletic Events and Sports Management, Inc. (ACES), said they are inviting foreign players from countries like the United States, Guam, Australia and Vietnam to give local spikers a chance to gauge their skills against foreign competition.
California-based Perfect Set Dream Makers and Guam-based Pacific Volleyball Academy will spearhead the juniors’ division, where they will face University of Santo Tomas, Pusong Azul, St. John’s University, Arellano University and One La Salle, which is composed of varsity players from De La Salle Zobel, Green Hills and Dasmarinas.
In the collegiate category, Vietnamese side Ho Chi Minh Volleyball Club and Australian squad Southern Storm Melbourne will test the mettle of Enderun Colleges, UST, Letran College, and College of Saint Benilde.
The juniors’ division will run from July 11-18 at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan, while the collegiate division will follow shortly from July 19-26 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
“We want to give our local players a good idea of foreign competition,” said Laurel during the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) media room inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex on Tuesday.
Also gracing the weekly session presented by San Miguel Corporation, PSC, Philippine Olympic Committee, MILO, and the country’s 24/7sports app ArenaPlus, were ACES executives Ginio Panganiban and Allen Reyes, as well as coaches Obet Javier of Arellano University and Watta Macalanggan of Ateneo de Manila University.
Laurel added that aside from getting a chance to face local stars, visiting players are also excited to compete in the country with the hopes of getting recruited and landing athletic scholarships with various universities.
“Another motivation for these teams is that they know how popular volleyball is here,” said Laurel, one of the prime movers behind the defunct Philippine Superliga.
“They will also visit different university campuses because some of their players, particularly Filipino-Americans, are interested in pursuing college scholarships in the Philippines. College coaches will likely be scouting these players.”
Laurel cited the cases of Perfect Set Dream Makers and the Pacific Volleyball Academy.
“Out of the California team’s roster, around 10 are Filipino-Americans while four are Americans. The Guam team is mostly composed of Guamanians or Filipino-Guamanians,” he said.
“During our discussions with their managers, they specifically requested campus tours so the players and their parents could learn more about Philippine universities.
He stressed that they are also planning some tourism activities to make sure that visiting players will fly back to their respective countries with beautiful memories of the Philippines.
“This is where the sports tourism aspect becomes more meaningful,” said Laurel, who tasked Reyes to tour the players and their respective families to various tourist spots and shopping destinations around Metro Manila.
“Since it’s summer in the United States, entire families — including the parents and grandparents — can accompany the athletes, enjoy a vacation and explore the country while competing.” (PSA pool story)
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