By Joaquin Luis E. Quesada

University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 84 President Emmanuel Calanog revealed that the women’s volleyball tournament will start on May 5, Thursday. The possibility of holding the tourney in a closed-circuit setup will be on the agenda at the next board meeting.

The collegiate league is open to breaking the bubble setups that the member schools have set up for their participating teams since early 2022. 

"We actually may consider going to a closed-circuit situation or set-up going into the volleyball tournament. Now that we more or less have a hand in organizing a tournament with these particular protocols, we can actually see or project if we can run a tournament safely now within a closed-circuit setup," Calanog said.

Professional leagues like the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) have adopted the closed-circuit system in the middle of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. 

With this system, all student-athletes may return to their families and return to game days with the COVID-19 testing still in place.

“When the guidelines were made, we were still at Alert Level 2. We’re now under Alert Level 1. You can dispense the bubble, and put other systems in place for the safety of the athletes. I leave that to the UAAP to decide,” Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairman J. Prospero De Vera said.

The venue and schedule of the women’s volleyball tournament have yet to be revealed.

(Photo by Precious Diamond Farro/FEU Advocate)