MANILA — The Premier Volleyball League is set to hold its inaugural Rookie Draft on July 6, marking a significant event aimed at fortifying team rosters with fresh talent and ensuring parity within the league.
The draft lottery, scheduled for June 24, aims to deter “tanking” strategies—intentionally losing games to secure higher draft picks—by not automatically granting the top pick to the lowest-performing club.
PVL commissioner Sherwin Malonzo stated, “Drafts serve as the great equalizer in professional leagues. This season, we will conduct our inaugural draft with guidelines influenced by some of the world’s top leagues.”
Starting from the upcoming conference, clubs will not be permitted to make direct hires.
This development follows another successful conference, wherein Creamline emerged victorious over sister team Choco Mucho, clinching its fourth consecutive All-Filipino Conference championship and eighth overall crown.
In the lottery, Strong Group Athletics, finishing last in its debut conference, holds a 40% chance of securing the first overall pick, followed by Capital1 (30%), Galeries Tower (20%), and Farm Fresh (10%).
Teams ranked eighth to first in the All-Filipino Conference will select fifth to twelfth, respectively, in descending order.
Subsequent rounds will adhere to the reverse order of the All-Filipino standings, with the team holding the poorest record picking first.
The draft process enables member teams to choose players who have not previously competed in the league, with selection order determined by a lottery for the first round and reverse ranking based on the preceding All-Filipino standings for subsequent rounds.
After Creamline and Choco Mucho, the teams are ranked as follows: PetroGazz, Chery Tiggo, PLDT, Cignal, Akari, Nxled, Farm Fresh, Galeries Tower, Capital1, and Strong Group Athletics.
A primary objective of the draft is to prevent bidding wars among teams for players, fostering a fairer acquisition process.
Eligibility for the draft mandates that applicants be at least 21 years old by December 31, 2024, with no requirement for collegiate playing experience or academic qualifications.
Filipino-foreign applicants must obtain a Philippine passport before the May 31 deadline for submission of draft eligibility requirements. Alternatively, Filipino-foreign applicants may submit a birth certificate issued in the Philippines.
All applicants must complete an online form at http://pvl.ph/draft. Additional requirements and documents must be sent to draft@pvl.ph.
The deadline for withdrawal is June 12.
(el Amigo/MNM)
