By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter
ANCHORED on the spirit of resiliency, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is pushing through with the staging of its Season 96.
This was reiterated by Fr. Vic Calvo, OP of host Colegio de San Juan de Letran in his session on the online Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on Tuesday as they gear up for the league’s opening of its new season on June 13.
Fr. Calvo shared that while the pandemic still has the local sporting community limited in what it can do, they in the NCAA feel that they have to push through to show that it can be done; that collegiate sports can move forward amid the prevailing conditions if carefully planned and within set parameters.
“While others have decided to cancel their season, we in the NCAA from the start believed that there will be a season. We did not think of canceling,” said Fr. Calvo, who was joined in the forum by NCAA Management Committee member Peter Cayco of Arellano University.
“This is about rising up, to show that even with the pandemic, we’re not down. Despite odds, we will push through with this season,” he added.
NCAA Season 96 will be conducted under the banner theme of “Rise Up Stronger” and tweaked to adapt with the current situation with the pandemic.
For now, the league, the country’s oldest, will be staging virtual competitions which include those for chess and taekwondo (poomsae and speed kicking).
Later on, after further clarification from government authorities and other league stakeholders, virtual basketball and volleyball skills challenges will be staged.
Fr. Calvo admitted that the staging of Season 96 will be different from the traditional way of doing things for the league, but said the NCAA has to do some pivoting to continue functioning.
The league official also expressed excitement over their newly formed link-up with new broadcast partner GMA Network.
Fr. Calvo said their collaboration so far has been fluid, allowing their vision for Season 96 to come to life.
“This will be one of the best, if not the best, opening the NCAA will ever have in its history. Considering our situation with the pandemic, creativity and resiliency are needed, which I think we were able to do with GMA,” he said.
Recently, GMA launched Rise Up Stronger: The Road to NCAA Season 96, a 21-episode primer on GTV which serves to drum up interest for the return of the NCAA from the pandemic-forced break.
Meanwhile, league officials said they might include the inoculation process as part of the eligibility requirements to guard against the spread of the coronavirus.
“Discussions are ongoing on it (vaccination),” said Fr. Calvo.
Mr. Cayco, for his part, added that they are carefully evaluating their options so as to come up with the best possible setup for including the vaccination process in the eligibility requirements.
“We recognize the rights of the students to choose whether they will be vaccinated or not. But we also have to consider the rights of the other students who want to,” he said, adding the NCAA is in consultation with the league’s lawyers in order to avoid any legal issue about the matter.
The league is also conducting an information campaign to allay fears of students of getting vaccinated.
The NCAA abruptly ended its Season 95 in March last year as the pandemic started to make its presence felt in the country.
Affected sports were those scheduled for the second semester, which include indoor volleyball, football, lawn tennis, soft tennis, track and field, beach volleyball and cheerdance competition.