The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 commenced last weekend at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with the theme “Stronger, Better, Together” .
“The University of the Philippines opens the Season 87 as host by sending a message to the world that together, we can be stronger and better as schools, as a community, as a nation, and as citizens of the world,” UAAP Season 87 Chairman and UP President Atty. Angelo Jimenez said.
The theme is a call to the league to be unceasingly forward-looking and creative, and a reminder that the way to continuing success and relevance is to be one.
The UAAP is an athletic association of eight Metro Manila universities in the Philippines, composed of UP, (AdU), Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University (DLSU), Far Eastern University (FEU), National University (NU), University of the East (UE), and University of Santo Tomas (UST).
FEU, MU. UP, UST are the original members that formed UAAP in 1938. Adamson and UE joined in 1952 followed by Ateneo in 1978 and DLSU in 1986.
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Each school has its own monicker: Soaring Falcons for Adamson, Blue Eagles for Ateneo, Green Archers for DLSU, Tamaraws for FEU, Bulldogs for NU, Red Warriors for UE, Fighting Maroons for UP, and Growling Tigers for UST.
They compete in 28 events from 15 sports to vie for the overall championship title.
First semester sports from August to December include athletics, badminton, basketball, beach volleyball, cheer dance, chess, E-sports, football, judo, swimming, table tennis, and taekwondo.
Second semester sports from January to May include baseball, fencing, softball, street dance, tennis, volleyball, and 3×3 basketball.
“Hands in the Huddle” is the new UAAP logo composed of a circular, vibrant colored-hands representing the eight member schools that symbolize UAAP’s theme of diversity and unity together.
It is arranged in a circular manner with the host school at the top followed by the succeeding schools in the hosting sequence for upcoming UAAP seasons.
UP is now on top as this year’s host, followed by UST, FEU, NU, Ateneo, La Salle, Adamson and back again to Season 86 host UE.
The colors of the UAAP members are green and maroon for UP, gold and white for UST, gold and green for FEU, gold and blue for NU, blue and white for Ateneo, green and white for DLSU, blue and white for Adamson, and red and white for UE.
UP hosted UAAP 12 times for seasons 12 (1949–50), 16 (1953–54), 20 (1957–58), 26 (1963–64), 31 (1968–69), 36 (1973–74), 42 (1979–80), 46 (1983–84), 54 (1991–92), 62 (1999–2000), 71 (2008–09) and 78 (2015–16).
UP had three championship titles in Men’s Basketball with their first title all the way back in 1939 (Season 2) then followed it up 47 years later in 1986 (Season 49) then 36 years later in 2022 (Season 84).
UPMBT members that were named Most Valuable Players include Fort Acuña(1968), Eric Altamirano (1986), Bright Akhuetie (2019), and Malick Diouf (2021).
UPMBT players who were included in the mythical five were Marvin Cruz (2006), Paul Desiderio (2016), Bright Akhuetie (2018), Juan Gómez de Liaño (2018), Kobe Paras (2019), Zavier Lucero (2021), Carl Tamayo (2021 and 2022), and Malick Diouf (2022 and 2023).
UP used to be a founding member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) from 1924 until it withdrew in 1930 and later became a founding member of UAAP in 1938.
A campus anecdote was that the varsity team was once known as the UP Parrots. It was replaced with a new moniker that revived the old (circa 1920s) name Maroons along with the adjective “fighting” to describe the sportsmanship attitude that the UP varsity teams must possess during the games.
The highlight of the opening ceremony was a performance by the iconic OPM band Eraserheads, who are all UP alumni, with their seven songs—Alapaap, Sembreak, Ligaya, Pare Ko, Minsan, Magasin, and Ang Huling El Bimbo.
The opening festivities also include performances of home grown talents the UP Symphony Orchestra, Concert Chorus, Kontra Gapi, hip-hop dance group ‘UPeepz’, indie musician Johnoy Danao and the Maroon 4 composed of Slapshock guitarist Lean Ansing, Franco bassist Dave Delfin, and Moonstar88’s drummer Bon Sundiang and vocalist Maysh Baay.
It was followed in the evening by Game One as a rematch between two fierce rivals UP and Ateneo in men’s basketball in front of 12,932 fans. UP had its first win with the final score of 77-61. The Quarterscores: 17-16, 40-30, 58-45, 77-61.
UP and Ateneo, who also faced each other in the UAAP Finals of seasons 81, 84, and 85, finished second and fourth, respectively, in Season 86.
“Let this season be a testament to the unity, the excellence, and the sportsmanship that define the UAAP. This season, we make our athletes stronger, better, together,” Season President and UP Chancellor Carlo Vistan II said.
(Peyups is the moniker of the University of the Philippines. Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the Seafarers’ Division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan Law Offices. For comments, e-mail info@sapalovelez.com, or call 09175025808 or 09088665786.)