MANILA – Unlike the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the University Athletic Association of the Philippines is planning to play out all its sport sporting events in Season 83.
UAAP Season 82 president Em Fernandez said all of the league’s student-athletes would be given the chance to showcase their calibers in the upcoming season.
According to him, once the government allows schools to open and sporting events to resume, the Season 83 will be compressed from January to June 2021.
“We are planning to have a full calendar (all sports events in six months), but that’s dependent on the government and the schools themselves. These are students. Normalcy in the schools will take precedent,” Fernandez said during the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum.
“Right now, based on the government stated, PSC (Philippine Sports Commission) said no tournaments until December of 2020. We’re looking at the first quarter of 2021,” he added.
According to Fernandez, the idea of compressing all sporting events in six months is just like the format used in the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games here. During the country’s hosting of the biggest sports event in South East Asia, all games were played simultaneously in over two weeks.
“If the SEA Games can do it, what’s stopping the UAAP from doing the same thing? Kung si volleyball season runs from February to May, what’s stopping the UAAP from running basketball side-by-side?” he said.
“The idea is to have the full calendar if possible, and to have it and start it first of the year. Para (lang) kaming nag-start ng second semester,” he added.
UAAP commissioner Rebo Saguisag, for his part, said that the plan is just one of the many scenarios that can either be implemented or changed depending on the developments of the country from coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak.
“Ang daming permutations. Nasa plan Z na kami, and we should never stop. This gives us a chance to make sports responsive and even more superior than COVID-19. The BMD (Board of Managing Directors) has been very creative in coming up with different variations,” said Saguisag.
