BVR to remain as amateur for now

Beach Volleyball Republic will not make the jump to turning professional.

League founder Charo Soriano revealed that the country’s standalone beach volleyball league has already advised the Games and Amusements Board that it will remain as an amateur league for now.

“When we did a roundtable with our board, it was concluded it’s still farfetched to go pro,” Soriano declared during Tuesday’s edition of the Philippine Sportswriters Association online forum.

Composing the BVR board are Soriano, Gretchen Ho, Fille Cainglet-Cayetano, Dzi Gervacio, and Bea Tan.

Late last year, Soriano and her group thought of going professional because of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

One of the main reasons is that the Inter-Agency Task Force has only allowed professional leagues to resume operations. This also meant that only pro teams and players are allowed to train if they get clearance from the other government agencies.

Soriano is not closing the doors on lifting the six-year-old league to the next level, though.

Just not now.

“Ideally, that is the goal. We want to increase the number of players sa beach volleyball first and strengthen the grassroots,” she continued during the forum which is powered by SMART and presented by San Miguel Corp., Go For Gold, MILO, Amelie Hotel Manila, Braska Restaurant, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).