Now that the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) baskeball season is about to end and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) will still have its Final Four this Season 90, the media is now abuzz with excitement as these two premier collegiate leagues in the country will draw its conclusion.

With Far Eastern University (FEU) and the National University (NU) facing the UAAP finals this season, many are wondering how will it generate enough publicity to make Season 77 worth watching and the jokes that ticket sales will be an all-time low because of the absence of Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) and De la Salle University (DLSU) in the finals for the first time since 1992.

NCAA is still waiting for the Final Four teams that will usher the semi-finals as San Beda College (SBC) and Arellano University are safely in the top berths. Both leagues will surely keep sports aficionados busy in following the finals.

But something concerns me with the current rosters of the NCAA and UAAP – I find it static and quite exclusive to what many calls it “The Imperial Manila” realm.

While the NCAA expanded to 10 schools since 2009 with the addition of Arellano University (AU), Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) and Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU), UAAP remains with 8 teams with DLSU as the latest university to be admitted to the league in 1986.

Back in 2005, Centro Escolar University (CEU) made an announcement that they intended to join the UAAP by 2006. But without explanation, CEU never made it to the UAAP by 2006.

There was also rumors that the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) also wished to join the UAAP but until now, no formal announcement whether CEU or UA&P will join the UAAP in the future.

As of the moment, CEU plays at the National Athletic Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (NAASCU) together with the former NCAA team Philippine Christian University (PCU) while UA&P women’s basketball team competes at the Women’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (WNCAA).
NCAA, on the other hand, has already expanded with the NCAA South, with 12 teams, catering mostly to the colleges and universities in the Southern Tagalog region.

In a strange coincidence, the NCAA South teams are mostly sister schools of their NCAA counterparts. This makes me wonder when both NCAA and UAAP will ever expand beyond the borders of Metro Manila and the Southern Tagalog region.

Though the Colleges and Universities Sports Association (CUSA), National Capital Region Athletic Association (NCRAA), Universities and Colleges Athletic Association (UCAA), National Athletic Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (NAASCU), Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI), Negros Occidental Private Schools Sports, Cultural and Educational Association (NOPSSCEA) and Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISAA) tries to cater collegiate sports to other colleges and universities, they are not getting any media mileage as much as the UAAP & NCAA is getting.

While they do get the media coverage, it is limited only to a sidebar in a newspaper or covered by other networks that do not have high ratings. And the only time these collegiate sporting events are known is because of the Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) with the NCAA and the UAAP getting the lion’s share of team allotment.

If the NCAA and the UAAP is really serious in their tag of the premier collegiate sporting event in the Philippines, it is probably a high time to consider a massive expansion of the league not just limited to Metro Manila or Southern Tagalog but on a national level.

Recently, CESAFI teams like Southwestern University (SWU) and the University of Visayas (UV) showing the same caliber as the NCAA or UAAP teams and proved worthy of matching up with the teams from Metro Manila.

Both NCAA and the UAAP should further consider the possibility of creating new divisions that will cater colleges and university from the Northern and Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Also, the names NCAA and the UAAP have “National” and “Philippines” in their names so why only schools from Metro Manila? It is quite misleading for many basketball aficionados that only the best collegiate players are from Metro Manila.

But what about the other college players from the provinces who have no chance to play for any NCAA or UAAP team? Are we trying to send a message that since they are not from either NCAA or UAAP that they are inferior? This “Imperial Manila” mentality in the collegiate sports not can only cause resentment to both NCAA and the UAAP but further aggravate the regional hostilities to Metro Manila.

If the issue is about logistics and financial matters, the NCAA and the UAAP must find ways to reach out to those colleges and universities that are worthy to be part of the premier collegiate league of our country and be more empathic to their sports program.

A good sports program means better academics and to make things better for the many colleges and universities still waiting to join a collegiate league, their players do not need to go to Metro Manila just to play and get all the media attention.

I sincerely believe that the NCAA and the UAAP are founded not just because to showcase their sponsors or prized recruits. The founders of the NCAA and the UAAP envisioned a league wherein colleges and universities can come to enjoy a camaraderie united through sports.

If our country can unite in one way or another, let us unite through sports – from Luzon, Visayas up to Mindanao. Let us make history and find ways to enjoy collegiate sports for Filipinos to enjoy by not simply looking for ADMU or DLSU but to their respective home colleges and universities.

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