Foreign clubs spice up Spikers’ Turf

The Spikers' Turf is looking to add international flavor for its second conference coming this month.

League organizer Sports Vision president Ricky Palou bared that plans of inviting foreign clubs similar to the highly successful Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference are on the table.

"Our plan for the Spikers' Turf is to invite foreign teams that will come in during the semifinals. The same format we did with the PVL, we'll get the top four teams in the elimination round and then bring in the two foreign teams," Palou said.

However, the league has yet to decide how many foreign guest teams will go up against the best local men's clubs the country.

"We haven't decided yet if we'll get one or two teams. We're trying to see if we can get two foreign teams to make it more interesting so that we can further grow the popularity of the Spikers' Turf," Palou added.

The PVL brought in Vietnamese club Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh and Japan's Kurashiki Ablaze for its second Invitational Conference edition.

The Japanese Division III squad emerged victorious, dethroning Creamline in an exciting finale to complete its flawless conquest.

Spikers' Turf held its season-opening Open Conference early this year dominated by the Marck Espejo-led powerhouse team Cignal.

The league is also looking to trim down the second conference field to 12 teams for maximum exposure for clubs and collegiate squads coming from the University Athletic Association of the Philippines and the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Palou said that at least 24 teams have committed to joining the tournament.

"There are club teams and college teams. I think the college teams want to come in to get exposure in preparation for the NCAA or UAAP," Palou said.