Foreign players deployed for pro league's attraction

Foreign players deployed for pro league's attraction

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Ten volleyball players from several countries were introduced at
a press conference on Tuesday at the Front Row cafe, a popular
sports restaurant/bar adjacent to the Bung Karno Sports Complex.

The 10 introduced on Tuesday are part of at least 15 athletes
from outside Indonesia, most of whom are Australians, who will
join the new Proliga, a local professional volleyball league.

The league was launched by the Indonesian Volleyball
Association (PBVSI) through its business arm Profesitama Pro Liga
(PPL) with PT Media Lingkar Komunikasi, known as m-lynx, as the
promoter.

Many of the players have national team experience in their
respective countries. Their participation in the league was made
possible because there are no competitions in their countries at
present so they have a break until April, when the Proliga, which
starts next month, will have finished competition.

"I'm enthusiastic to play here. It should be a lot of fun and
I expect close games," said Michael Oostryck, who plays for the
Rossmoyne Club in Perth, Australia. He will join Bandung Tectona
here.

Joanne Myszka, also from Australia, who said she had played
for the national team, said that she was looking forward to
teaming up with her Jakarta Princess squad.

The organizers said that their arrival was expected to
motivate young Indonesians to become interested in volleyball.

"(Poor) regeneration is the impeding factor to the development
of volleyball here. This is because young guns, despite their
potential, are not enthusiastic about taking up volleyball,"
Hanny Rukatty said.

"I hope their (overseas players) appearance here will be an
attraction to national volleyball.

"Besides, local players can learn from their foreign
counterparts about skills. They are accustomed to playing in
tight tournaments, so they are in better psychological shape," he
said.

There is no specified contracts between the players and the
clubs. The players will only get an "appearance fee", but the
amount was not disclosed.

Television coverage is largely apportioned for the league. It
will be an entire 36.5 hours of TV broadcast time on state-owned
TVRI and private Trans stations, either live or delayed.

Nine clubs will join the league. But, unlike Perhutani,
Petogres, BNI '45 and DPPK, which are already familiar to the
Indonesian volleyball community, the nine participating names are
totally new.

The clubs are Jakarta Prince, Jakarta Patriot, Jakarta
Phinisi, Jakarta Monas, Bogor Tunas, Yogya Yuwana, Bandung
Tectona, Surabaya Flame and Gresik Phonska.

Except for the last two, each club will field both a men's and
women's squad for in the inaugural pro league. The Flame will
only field a men's team while the Phonska only a women's.

Each team must feature at least one international on its
squad. Two is the maximum number. Though, Jakarta Patriot,
managed by the Army headquarters, is exclusively exempted from
the requirement, with the organizers saying it was Army policy
that they could not allow non-Indonesians.

Their distribution to each club is being decided by PBVSI.

"We have made the decision about the players' distribution at
the moment, but next season we hope the clubs would be more
independent," Rita Subowo, PBVSI's chairwoman, said.

The matches will be held every Friday and Sunday, in two
separate towns, each featuring four men's and four women's teams.
Jakarta and Gresik will be the venue of the opening matches, with
the Bung Karno Indoor Stadium hosting the opening ceremony.