The Philippines is set to make sports history as it hosts the 2014 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship (AMCC) from April 8 to 16. Eighteen countries across Asia will be competing in order to determine who will represent the region in the 2014 Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) Volleyball World Championship at Betim, Brazil in May.
PLDT HOME Fibr will be broadcasting the games via live streaming and replay-on-demand on the new TVolution. In a press conference at the NBA Cafe in SM Aura, the Philippine Volleyball Federation (PVF) revealed the some of the players who will be playing under the banner of PLDT HOME TVolution team. According to Coach Francis Vicente, tryouts are still on-going for the remaining slots on the team, but those who have secured their slots are JP Torres, Ron Jay Galang, Jeffrey Malabanan, Alnakran Abdilla and Richard Gomez.
“Only the best and dedicated players will be chosen. We want to form a very competitive team for the AMCC,” coach Vicente said.
Vicente also revealed that Australian volleyball stars Cedric Legrand and William Robert Lewis will also play for the Philippine team. Legrand, standing at 190cm, previously played with the Australian Indoor team in 2008 and in the Victorian Premier league, where he is tagged as the MVP.
Also making history is actor Richard Gomez who is an avid sportsman as well. Gomez, known as the volleyball ambassador of the Philippine Superliga (PSL), joined an unprecedented fourth national team after being a part of previous squads for fencing, rowing and shooting.
The change in leadership of the PVF caused the reformation of the volleyball team and the country’s hosting of the AMCC, with support coming from PLDT HOME Fibr. This event puts the Philippines back in the regional volleyball scene and serves as a challenge to the men’s team’s strength and ability.
“PLDT HOME Fibr is powering the first and biggest volleyball event in the Philippine history. We are also bringing world-class sports entertainment to the homes of Filipino sports fans through TVolution,” said PLDT vice president and head of HOME Broadband Gary Dujali.
Along with the men’s team, PLDT HOME Fibr also introduced their women’s squad to compete on the 2014 Asian Women’s Club Volleybal Championshion in Nakhonpathom, Thailand on April 17 to 25. The team includes ace spikers Angeli Tabaquero and Michelle Datuin under the guidance of coach Sammy Acaylar.
All upcoming games of the Philippine team will be televised live on TV5, the official broadcast partner of the AMCC. For more updates regarding the 2014 PLDT HOMe Fibr Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship, visit asianmensvball.pldthome.com