ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Volleyball devider Local schools look to gain experience vs foreign clubs in SSL Invitationals

Local schools look to gain experience vs foreign clubs in SSL Invitationals

Published Jul 7, 2026 02:43 pm

At A Glance

  • Local schools try to gain valuable experience in the off-season as they plunge into action against foreign squads in the 2026 Shakey's Super League (SSL) National Invitationals which fires off Saturday, July 11, at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
Pusong Azul coach Watamamam Macalanggan, from left, Ginio Panganiban, Dr. Ian Laurel, Allen Reyes, and coach Roberto "Obet" Javier
Pusong Azul coach Watamamam Macalanggan, from left, Ginio Panganiban, Dr. Ian Laurel, Allen Reyes, and coach Roberto "Obet" Javier
Local schools try to gain valuable experience in the off-season as they plunge into action against foreign squads in the 2026 Shakey’s Super League (SSL) National Invitationals which fires off Saturday, July 11, at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
A total of 13 teams have already confirmed their participation in the two-division meet where high-school games are slated from July 11 to 18 and the collegiate action gets from July 19 to 24. Matches will be held at FilOil and the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila, with the championship matches scheduled on July 26 also in the San Juan venue.
Ho Chi Minh City Volleyball Club (Vietnam) and Southern Storm Melbourne (Australia) join the collegiate field, while Perfect Set Dream Makers (California) and Pacific Volleyball Academy (Guam) take part in the inaugural juniors edition of the annual invitationals.
Dr. Ian Laurel, chairman and president of Athletic Events and Sports Management Inc. (ACES), emphasized that facing foreign opposition will provide local teams with valuable experience and help elevate their competitiveness.
“Well for us we can’t overemphasize the importance of the grassroots programs, ‘yon naman talaga ‘yong push ng Shakey’s eh,” said Laurel during Tuesday’s PSA Forum presented by San Miguel Corporation, PSC, Philippine Olympic Committee, MILO, and the country’s 24/7sports app ArenaPlus.
“It’s going to be different this year [and] this is something that we aligned with the push of the good chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission, Pato Gregorio, regarding sports tourism,” he added.
Laurel is looking to invite more teams from Japan, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Apart from the foreign bets, Enderun Colleges, University of Santo Tomas, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, and College of Saint Benilde compose the seniors division, while Puzong Azul (Ateneo girls’ team), Arellano, St. John’s Institute (Bacolod), One La Salle, and UST are in the high-school field.

Related Tags

SSL
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ static_articles_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.