THE Shakey’s Super League (SSL) 2022 Collegiate Pre-season Championship will be implementing a house rule that requires all teams to field all their players in all their matches.
The tournament’s inaugural is set Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila. It features 18 women’s squads from the University Athletic Association of the Philippines and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
“The benefit of having this rule is that players are going to get enough exposure and playing time,” said Philip Ella Juico, chairman and CEO of SSL organizer Athletic Events and Sports Management Inc.
“Coaches can also take advantage of this format to try different combinations which they can eventually use for their respective collegiate leagues,” Juico added.
Under the “all-to-play” rule, different sets of players—except for the libero—will be fielded in the first two sets of a match. Regular substitution will return when the set score reaches 16.
Standard play will be in effect starting from the third set.
“We want exposure for all our players and this format will give us just that,” said coach Jerry Yee of NCAA champion College of Saint Benilde.
A distributed playing time also means fresh legs for each set ensuring a sustained high-energy competition as well as minimizing the chances of players incurring injuries, according to Juico.
“Under this rule, we can give our second stringers and new recruits playing time while we rest our players who are not 100 percent healthy,” said De La Salle University assistant coach Noel Orcullo, who will call the shots for head coach Ramil De Jesus in the tournament.
University of the East and Mapua clash at 12 noon followed by another Pool A encounter between San Beda University and University of Perpetual Help at 2 p.m. in Saturday’s opener.
Saint Benilde meets Far Eastern University in a 4 p.m. Pool D match with Pool B squads Adamson University and University of Santo Tomas squaring off at 6 p.m.
Tickets are now available through shakeys.ticketmax.ph.