Two seasons will be hosted by member schools of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines this year.
After Season 84 gets going with nine events starting on March 26, organizers hope to have a bigger tournament when they launch Season 85 by October.
League president Emmanuel Calanog of Season 84 host De La Salle University said this on Friday as organizers unveiled their plans to restart competitions following a two-year absence.
“In as much as we wanted to have all the sports played, the current situation particularly in the past few months made the board decide to only have the covered sports and some sports which made our criteria,” said Calanog.
The La Salle exec revealed the league’s plans in the presence of executive director Rene “Rebo” Saguisag Jr. and Smarts sports executive Jude Turcuato at the Hai Chix Restaurant in Capitol Commons, Pasig.
Quadruple-header games in men’s basketball will be among the first that will be held, along with women’s volleyball and a cheerdance competition.
It was also decided that they will add men’s and women’s 3×3 basketball events, together with women’s beach volleyball, poomsae, men’s and women’s chess.
“So these are the sports that we will be running, and part of the decision is the cost. But as for the running of the tournament, not as much,” added Calanog.
Many student-athletes from member schools like Ateneo, University of Santo Tomas, University of the Philippines, Far Eastern University, De La Salle University, Adamson University and National University have already gone into bubble training in their respective campuses.
And because no uncontrolled incidents of COVID-19 infections have been reported, the league was inspired to restart the season after shutting down their activities in March 2020.
“Having our athletes back on the campuses for two to three months before the start, to safely have them back in competition shape is the one that really helped the board decide that we can really bring our athletes back,” said Calanog.
With bubble training of student-athletes now going on full blast, the next host, Adamson University is now preparing to have Season 85 fire off by October.
“There will be two seasons in the same year. And hopefully, this will be in a new normal situation,” said Calanog.
The league will now air its games on TV5, after parting ways with the long-time broadcaster ABS-CBN back in 2020.