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| courtesy of Inquirer |
Philippine women's volleyball is experiencing a resurgence of sorts. As seen from the record-breaking number of people who watched the UAAP and Shakey's V-League finals, Philippine women's volleyball is on a new high. But behind the new high is a new low as well.
Noticeably, those who seek to gain control over women's volleyball are men whose businesses are into sports. Tats Suzara has SCORE while Ricky Palou has Sports Vision. Tats tried but failed to come up with a commercial league for those players who want to pursue their volleyball careers after college. He too failed in his bid to present the Bomberinas as the new national team. Ricky Palou still has his Shakey's V-League which just had a very successful first conference on its tenth season. Palou presents himself as an alternative choice to PVF president Gener Dungo.
The danger with businessmen whose businesses are in the sports industry is that the temptation and ability to make money out of the sport and national team are seemingly intrinsic. Ticket sales, sponsorships, advertisements, television rights and even merchandises on the national team can be very lucrative. Being businessmen, why will they pass up on an opportunity to make a killing ?
Gone are the days when people who want to be sports leaders had no vested interests and only want to give pride and honor to the country. Now, people, more often than not, are after the money and prestige. Sports have become a business venture more than anything else. And that is the sad reality.
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