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| (Image Source: SunStar) |
Three major cities in Central Luzon are set to host the upcoming 2021 Asian Senior Women's Volleyball Championship slated to be held on August 29-September 5, 2021. The Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) has officially chosen the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando, Pampanga as the main arena of the said tournament with the Subic Gym and the Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Hall as secondary venues.
These three coliseums have successfully hosted league bubbles over the past few months amidst the continuing threat of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. Last year, the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center was the home of the National Basketball League finals while the AUF Sports and Cultural Hall served as the bubble-esque battleground for the 2020 Honda PBA Philippine Cup. Earlier this year, the Subic Gym hosted the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) Lakan Cup playoffs and tryouts for the national men's and women's indoor volleyball teams.
During a press conference held last May 19, 2021, PNVF President and FIVB Volleyball Empowerment Commission Secretary (2020-2024) Ramon "Tats" Suzara said that Pampanga Governor Dennis Pineda is ecstatic about a prestigious international volleyball tournament being held in the province and asked the federation to hold grassroots programs for the Kapampangan youth. He also said that the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center is undergoing renovation to meet the international volleyball standards and will eventually meet up with Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) chairperson Wilma Eisma to discuss Subic's own hosting.
This will be the third time that the Philippines will be hosting the said event after doing so in 1997 and 2017. The city of Jiangmen in China was supposed to host the 2021 Asian Senior Women's Volleyball Championship but it begged off probably due to the threat of COVID-19 in the said city. "We saw the opportunity and we grabbed it," Suzara said after the PNVF quickly stepped in to take over the hosting chores for the said event. The Philippine women's volleyball team is set to begin training on June. All the sixteen players who have attended the national team tryouts last April 28, 2021 were inserted into the national team pool with the four remaining spots to be decided based on the other invited players' performance in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Open Conference.
