The Philippine Superliga (PSL) fires off its new season with a new team, a new sponsor and two guest teams when it rolls out the PSL Invitational Conference on March 4 at the FilOil Flying V Center in San Juan.
Bannered by star players from Ateneo de Manila and De La Salle University, Cocolife is expected to debut with force when ranged against regular squads Foton, F2 Logistics, Cignal, Petron and Generika.
A new team under seasoned coach Sammy Acaylar would also be coming in, as well as a guest team from Japan, which will join in the semifinals.
Team official Joshua Ylaya presented the team that has Michele Gumabao, Denden Lazaro, Wensh Tiu, Therese Gaston, Erika Alkuino, Mika Esperanza and Rose Vargas in the lineup.
American coach Airess Padda of Adamson University will serve as Cocolife's head coach.
The team will be known as the Asset Managers and the roster would be finalized after the NCAA season.
“This is an attempt to break the barrier between Ateneo and La Salle players,” said Ylaya, who was part of the La Salle squad that won the 2003 UAAP men’s tournament title. “We want to show that even if these players are rivals on the court during their college days, they are still friends off the court and can play together in one team.
Also present during the team launch were Cocolife Vice President of Broker Servicing Department Atty. Francis Nob, Cocolife Assistant Vice President for Marketing Christopher Ponce, PSL president Ramon Suzara and PSL chairman Philip Ella Juico.
Ylaya added that the team would be using the company’s blue and green colors to emphasize the unity among players from the two schools.
On the same note, Belo Intensive Whitening also vouched its full support to the country’s most prestigious semi-professional league that is entering its fifth year.
Belo will be the title sponsor in the Invitational Conference and Beach Volleyball Challenge Cup.
“Our company and the league are one in promoting the beauty and empowerment of Filipina athletes,” said Mario Garcia, brand manager for Belo underarm products.
“We are both happy and excited over this partnership. We’re looking forward to the success of this exciting endeavor.”