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National Collegiate Athletic Association (Philippines)

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This article is on a Filipino collegiate sports body. For information on the American equivalent, see National Collegiate Athletic Association.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA, is an athletic association of eight colleges and universities in the Philippines. The NCAA, which was established in 1924, is the oldest existing athletic association in the Philippines. The NCAA in the Philippines is not connected to the NCAA of the United States, for they are independent of each other.

File:Ncaa sm.gif
The NCAA logo. The eight circles represent the logos of the eight member schools. Note that the "NCAA" logo is the same as that used by the American NCAA.

The affairs of the league are handled by both the Policy Board and the Management Committee. These two bodies are composed of representatives of the eight member schools, and determine the acceptance or suspension of member schools, reversal or replay of games, and other such official actions.

During the nearly year-long season, which begins in June and ends in March, schools participate in 11 sports, which are further divided into two divisions: the Juniors division, for male high school student athletes, and the Seniors division for collegiate student athletes. In some events, the Seniors division is further divided based on gender. Also, the Juniors and Seniors divisions each award a General Champion at the end of the academic year. The General Champion is the school which had the best performance in all sports, based upon the total amount of points scored in a Championship tally. This school wins the General Championship trophy.

With basketball as the principal sport, rivalries developed within schools, this has lead to memorable matches within the course of history of the NCAA. Some rivalries, on the other hand, have lead to some members withdrawing from the league as some games escalated into full-blown brawls. The NCAA took measures to prevent major brawls from happening again, including several new members joining the league. As of Season 82, the league is now contemplating of expanding into Division II athletics.

Location of NCAA member schools within Metro Manila.

Member colleges and universities

The NCAA is composed of the following colleges and universities, with their corresponding team mascots, affiliation and the year of admission. The number of members has changed over the years, as well as the specific colleges which have been included.

Team
Logo 		School Men's Women's Juniors Affiliation Year Joined
  Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights Lady Knights Letran Squires Private/Dominican 1928¹, 1936
File:Blazers sm.jpg De La Salle University - College of Saint Benilde
La Salle Green Hills 		Blazers Lady Blazers LSGH Greenies Private/Lasallian 1999
File:Jru sm.jpg Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers - JRU Light Bombers Private/Non-sectarian 1927
File:Cardinals sm.jpg Mapua Institute of Technology Cardinals - Mapua Red Robins
Currently inactive 		Private/Non-sectarian 1930
File:Dolphins sm.jpg Philippine Christian University Dolphins Lady Dolphins PCU Baby Dolphins Private/Protestant 1996
File:Redlions sm.jpg San Beda College Red Lions See WNCAA. San Beda Red Cubs Private/Benedictine 1924², 1986
File:Stags sm.jpg San Sebastian College - Recoletos Stags Lady Stags SSC-R Staglets Private/Recollect 1969
File:Uphr sm.jpg University of Perpetual Help System DALTA Altas Lady Altas UPHSD Altalettes Private/Non-sectarian 1984

Notes:
¹ Withdrew 1933, rejoined 1936.
² Withdrew 1983, rejoined 1986.

Structure and hosting

The NCAA's external and internal affairs are managed by the Policy Board. The Policy Board is composed of the presidents, or their functional equivalents thereof, of the member schools. The Policy Board handles matters such as acceptance, replacement and suspension of member schools. The NCAA presidency rotates among member schools. The president for the upcoming 2006-2007 season is Brother Armin Luistro of De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde.

The other main administrative body in the NCAA is the Management Committee, abbreviated MANCOM, which determines matters of athletic concern, such as determining the proper conditions for playing, suspension of players, coaches and referees, investigation of ineligible players, reversal or review of game results, and other similar activities. The Management Committee is composed of the athletics moderators (or athletic directors) of the different schools, and the league chairperson. Like the league president, the chairmanship of the Management Committee rotates among member schools. The chairperson of the Managament Committee for the upcoming 2006-2007 season is Bernardo Atienza of Saint Benilde.

The president of the Policy Board and the chairperson of the Management committee always come from the school currently hosting the basketball tournament. The rotation is determined by the alphabetical order of the names of the schools. For example, for the upcoming 2006-2007 season, the host will be Saint Benilde, while Jose Rizal University will host the 2007-2008 season. Jose Rizal University representatives, for the mean time, would be the vice-president of the Policy Board and the vice chairperson of the Management Committee.

The host school can be compared to the host country in the Olympics, were the host school must take care of the logistics, expenses, manpower and security in the venues. Each sport has its own host, with the host for basketball being the head of all hosts.

Sports

The NCAA sponsors eleven sports. Sports in the NCAA are divided into two divisions: the Juniors division for high school students and the Seniors division for collegiate students. In some sports, the Seniors division is further divided into two further tournaments based on gender.

The high schools in the Juniors division are affiliated with the member colleges and universities. Each member university has a high school affiliated with it. The high school athletes attend these affiliated high schools. For example, San Beda College's affiliated high school is its campus at Taytay, Rizal, while Letran College's high school is found within its college campus at Intramuros. While these two high schools are integrated within their colleges, De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde's high school affiliate, La Salle Green Hills (LSGH), is not in any way connected with each other, save that they're both administered by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. As a result, instead of labelling "La Salle" on thier jerseys, LSGH labels "St. Benilde" instead.

The NCAA sponsors the following sports for Juniors and Seniors: basketball, chess, swimming, football, taekwondo, tennis, and track and field. Volleyball, table tennis, and beach volleyball are hosted on the Juniors and Seniors level as well as on both a men’s and women’s level. Cheerleading is a demonstrational event and is not used in the tabulating of each school’s final score, and determination of the season’s General Champion.

The General Champion for the each division in an academic year is determined by a points system similar to the one used in Formula One, where the school with the highest accumulated score from all events in a division wins the General Championship. A championship in an event entitles a school with 30 points, the second placer 20, up to eighth place, with one point. For an example, see the tabulation of points for Season 81.

History

Early years

The NCAA was founded upon the initiative of Dr. Regino R. Ylanan, a physical education professor of the University of the Philippines in 1924 by the Ateneo de Manila, De La Salle College, Institute of Accounts, National University, San Beda College, the University of Manila, the University of the Philippines, and the University of Santo Tomas.[1]

Since then several schools came and left, as summarized by the table below:

Year Joined Withdrew No. of schools on the league
1925 St. Vincent de Paul St. Vincent de Paul (joined only for one season) 8
1926 - University of Manila 7
1927 Jose Rizal College - 8
1928 Colegio de San Juan de Letran - 9
1929 Far Eastern University (from the merger of the Institute of Accounts and Far Eastern College) National University 8
1930 Mapua Institute of Technology - 9
1932 - Far Eastern University, University of the Philippines, University of Santo Tomas 6
1933 - Colegio de San Juan de Letran 5
1936 Colegio de San Juan de Letran (returning member) - 6

In 1932, National University, which had withdrawn earlier, the University of the Philippines and the University of Santo Tomas established their own ”Big Three League.” The “Big Three” were still a part of the NCAA, but they conducted their own league, separate from the NCAA. [1]

However, in 1936, the University of the Philippines and University of Santo Tomas withdrew permanently in the NCAA and continued with their own league, while Far Eastern University (FEU) withdrew on its own. This led to the Ateneo de Manila, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, De La Salle College, Jose Rizal College, Mapua Institute of Technology and San Beda College carrying on with the league and being coined the "old-timer six." Also on 1936, with the completion of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, the league games were transferred there, owing to its accessibility among the schools, for most schools were in Manila.

In 1938, Far Eastern University, National University, the University of the Philippines and the University of Santo Tomas formed the University Athletics Association of the Philippines, a rival intercollegiate league.[2] The UAAP would later be a rival in terms of players, fans and media attention.

The league experienced a golden age during the postwar years. The Loyola Gym at the Ateneo campus would be the new home of the league. However, due to the home court advantage of the Ateneo, Blue Eagles games were held on the old Rizal Memorial.[1]

1960s to 1980s

NCAA basketball champions formed the core of the Filipino team sent to international competitions during 1960 and 1961 in Japan. The opening of the Araneta Coliseum, the largest indoor arena in the Philippines, prompted the league to transfer the championship round there.[1]

However, by the 1960s, the league experienced problems such as eligibility of players and interscholastic hooliganism. This led to disagreements among member schools, and as a result the 1962-63 season was suspended, and the following two seasons were held in a loose conference format, where the home and away system was used. San Sebastian College - Recoletos joined the league in 1969. [3]

Year Joined Withdrew #
1969 San Sebastian College - Recoletos - 7
1977 - Ateneo de Manila University 6
1980 - Colegio de San Juan de Letran (Suspended) 5
1981 Colegio de San Juan de Letran (Readmitted) De La Salle University 5
1983 - San Beda College 4

After the riotous games of the late 1970s, several of the founding members left the league. The Ateneo left the league in 1977 due to violence, which also marred a championship series with San Beda[4], while La Salle left after a riotous game with Letran in 1980. Ateneo was accepted in the UAAP in 1978, while La Salle had to wait for six years to become a UAAP member. San Beda left the league in 1983, reasoning out that the College will focus on school-based sports activities like Intramurals.[3]

With the withdrawal of the Ateneo, league games returned to the old Rizal Memorial and to the PhilSports Arena, since the Loyola Games were now the location of the UAAP tournament. Also with the withdrawal of the three founding members, most daily publications tagged the NCAA as "an ironic journey from sports to violence."[3]

League today

As the league was reduced to four members, membership was actively pursued. Perpetual Help College of Rizal and Trinity College of Quezon City were accepted as members in 1984. But as Trinity wasn't able to meet the league requirements, they were dropped from the league on 1986, the same year San Beda returned.[1]

Measures were taken to prevent major brawls from starting such as patrolling the behavior of the crowd by the respective faculties of the member schools, were implemented as part of the remedy to ensure the security during the NCAA games.[3]

The addition of Philippine Christian University and De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde in the late 1990s resulted in the current lineup of members the NCAA now has.[1]

Year Joined Withdrew #
1984 Perpetual Help College of Rizal, Trinity College of Quezon City - 6
1986 San Beda College (returning member) Trinity College of Quezon City 6
1996 Philippine Christian University - 7
1999 De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde - 8
2005 - Mapua High School (Jrs. only) 8 (Srs)
7 (Jrs)

A major breakthrough occurred when the league, upon the initiative of host school San Beda, made a move that switched the television coverage of NCAA games from MCI group to ABS-CBN on March 18, 2002. Previously, only the Final Four and the Championship games were televised, but with the five-year contract inked with ABS-CBN, a majority of the basketball games will be aired, giving the league bigger exposure to fans, students and alumni.[3] ABS-CBN would later air the games on its international affiliate, The Filipino Channel, making the games viewable to alumni and fans abroad.[5]

Future expansion

The NCAA has set its plan of expansion. Division II, as it will be called, will be composed of newly admitted schools. The league has already visited and issued invitations to schools such as Arellano University, Emilio Aguinaldo College and the Lyceum of the Philippines University.[6][7]

The return of a Mapua Juniors team, which took a leave of absence beginning at the 2005-2006 season, would return at the 2007-2008 season, as the newly built Malayan High School would be fully operational. Malayan High School would represent the Mapua Institute of Technology, which is due to be renamed as Malayan Colleges by 2010.[8]

Rivalries

Almost all of the rivalries of the NCAA originated from the basketball court, since basketball is the sport most covered by the media, especially on television. Most of the rivalries started due to the schools' compositions, because four of the old-timer six were schools exclusively for males from affluent families. These rivalries have declined in recent years with the withdrawal of two of the old-timer six, Ateneo and La Salle.

With the addition of new members to the league, rivalries shifted to more of a geographical nature. However, the former members would still face their old rivals in other leagues during the off-season, such as the Home and Away Invitational Tournament and the Collegiate Champions League.

Ateneo-UP

Even before the formation of the NCAA, there was a rivalry between the Ateneo de Manila and the University of the Philippines. University of the Philippines students would troop from Padre Faura to the Ateneo campus in Intramuros to play basketball with the Ateneans,[9] which led to the Ateneo forming the first organized cheering squad and pep band in the Philippines, which eventually became the Blue Babble Battalion.[10] This would later become "UAAP's Battle of Katipunan" when the Ateneo and University of the Philippines transferred to their campuses to Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City and when the two schools began competing in the UAAP.

Ateneo-La Salle

Arguably the most storied rivalry in Filipino sports was forged in the NCAA: The Ateneo-La Salle rivalry. Historical records are murky on when the rivalry began, although there are arguments pointing to La Salle's 1939 defeat of a top-seeded Ateneo basketball team and their being dethroned by the Ateneans who beat the Lasallites in the elimination round. While La Salle made their victory parade, they threw fried chickens at the Padre Faure gate of the Ateneo.[9] However. the La Salle cage team was disbarred for fielding an ineligible player the following year (although the title would not become Ateneo's until 1941, two years after the defeat).

Ateneo-La Salle games were always heated, for both schools were exclusively for males. However, La Salle during its stint in the NCAA wasn't as strong a contender as the Ateneo was (see Ateneo-San Beda rivalry), with the Ateneo not meeting La Salle again until the 1959 Finals, where Ateneo prevailed.[9] Ateneo-La Salle games are now one of the most anticipated games of the UAAP season.

Ateneo-San Beda

With the departure of University of the Philippines, the Ateneo de Manila had the most dominant basketball team for several seasons. La Salle was not a perennial basketball contender. It was in this context that the fierce rivalry between the Ateneo and San Beda emerged. Several memorable games in the early 1950s ensued between the two teams. Carlos Loyzaga's San Beda Red Lions toppled the Blue Eagles of Ateneo from 1950 to 1951. Then, the Blue Eagles under the leadership of Frankie Rabat captured the 1952 and 1953 NCAA titles.[1]

The rivalry was revived in the 1970s, when their sons, Chito Loyzaga and Louie Rabat met in the NCAA.[11] The most memorable battle was Game One of the 1977 Finals. A brawl ensued against fans of the competiting teams, which led the third game being held on closed doors, with San Beda winning the championship, after Ateneo's last second shot was ruled invalid.[12] The violence surrounding this championship series, coupled with the violence that was plaguing the league, led to both Ateneo and San Beda withdrawing from the NCAA. Ateneo went to the UAAP, while San Beda eventually came back to the NCAA.

To date, Ateneo and San Beda seem poised to rekindle their sports rivalry, less the animosity, via friendship games[13] and off-season tournaments[14] even though both teams belong to different leagues.

La Salle-Letran

In the 1970s, La Salle started its own rivalry against Letran. During the August 17, 1980 game between La Salle and Letran, a major riot ensued. This led to the deployment of army troops around the Rizal Memorial Coliseum. (It should be noted that Rizal Memorial Coliseum is a stone throw away from the La Salle campus, and the games were held at the height of Martial Law.)

Even before the game started, the crowds were unruly already. By the middle of the first half, Letran called for a timeout. By this time a Letran student was ganged up and beaten by La Salle students. This led into a riot, where fans threw objects and the Rizal Memorial Coliseum was wrecked. The two teams rushed for the dugouts, as the NCAA Management Committee suspended the game. After deliberation, the Management Committee decided to replay the game, but the Basketball Association of the Philippines, the FIBA-recognized basketball federation in the Philippines, ordered the NCAA to scrap the 1980 season.[15]. It was rumored that aside from the students from both schools, Danding Cojuangco's (a La Salle alumnus) personnel were present at the Coliseum and actually led the riot.

La Salle withdrew from the NCAA, and joined the UAAP (after six years of inactivity in intercollegiate athletics). Letran was suspended after it was proven that Letranites started the fight after all. However, after passing the league requirements, the Knights were readmitted.[16]

Letran-San Sebastian

After both Ateneo and La Salle left, San Sebastian (frequently shortened to "Baste") strengthened their basketball program. With the acquisition of Paul Alvarez, the Stags were poised for basketball supremacy. However, Letran, under the exploits of Samboy Lim, were also ripe for the title. With the clash of these two schools, a new rivalry was born.

In the 1980s, Letranites were notorious for yelling profanities at the San Sebastian players, and in one occasion, led to a rumble at Vito Cruz Avenue when at the last second, a power interruption occurred, causing confusion on what team won the championship. The rumbles between the two schools have become more frequent which solidified the intense rivalry between the two schools. Probably the most famous game between the Stags and the Knights was the 1987 Finals series when Letranite Dong Libed converted a jumper at the last second to win the 1987 Seniors championship. The Stags then were led by Paul Alvarez, who would later play for the Pennsylvania Valley Dawgs of the United States Basketball League.[17]

Critics have said that the rivalry between the two schools could be likened to the core rivalry between San Beda and Ateneo during the old NCAA. Others dispute that claim on the simple premise that said rivalry was not as "glamorous" as the San Beda-Ateneo nor the Ateneo-La Salle rivalries.

The rivalry continued in the turn of the millennium when the Stags, met the Knights in the Finals twice. This led to several memorable games in which the Knights won the 1998 and 2003 championships, all at the expense of the Stags.

Letran-Mapua

The "Battle of Intramuros," which is so named because the two schools are three blocks apart from each other in Intramuros, is the name given to the Letran-Mapua games. The Cardinals have had the mastery of the Knights in recent years, as Letran failed to beat Mapua in eight consecutive years in the eliminations, even though the Knights were more successful in the league.[18]

The Knights were finally able to beat Mapua in the first round of the 2005 tournament[19], but the Cardinals avenged that loss in the second round when they dealt the Knights with their first defeat of the season.[20]

NCAA championships

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g About NCAA NCAA Philippines Official Website. March 28, 2006
  2. ^ UAAP History UAAP Official Website. March 28, 2006
  3. ^ a b c d e NCAA: An Endless Saga The Bedan. June 2005 issue
  4. ^ 1975: Year of the Eagle Team Ateneo.com. March 28, 2006
  5. ^ PCTV Pinoy Central TV Channel TFC Direct. May 2, 2006
  6. ^ After Letran as host, Benilde will continue hosting duties. The LANCE. March 2006 issue
  7. ^ Cayetano bares athletic program The Lyceum Independent Sentinel. September-October 2005 issue
  8. ^ Letran hosts 81st season The LANCE. June 2005 issue
  9. ^ a b c Tradition continues: The Eagle and The Archer The Guidon (Google archive). October 7, 2004
  10. ^ Ateneo Songs and Cheers Ateneo de Manila University official website. May 2, 2006
  11. ^ Mati makes monumental move INQ7.net . April 30, 2006
  12. ^ 1975: Year of the Eagle Team Ateneo.com. March 28, 2006
  13. ^ Eagles Score One in the Lions' Den Gameface.ph. May 2, 2006
  14. ^ Ateneo Shades San Beda, 72-70 Gameface.ph. May 2, 2006
  15. ^ Blast from the Past Greenarcher.net. April 8, 2006
  16. ^ La Salle-Letran rivalry The LANCE. September 1980 issue
  17. ^ Alvarez in listless USBL debut INQ7.net. April 3, 2006
  18. ^ Letran Goes 6-0 by Stopping Mapua UBelt.com. April 8, 2006
  19. ^ PCU, Letran remain unbeaten INQ7.net. April 5, 2006
  20. ^ Cardinals make sure: No sweep for Knights Manila Standard Today. April 5, 2006

Other references

  • The GUIDON, Ateneo de Manila University
  • Aegis, Ateneo de Manila University
  • NCAA souvenir program
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