THE NCAA is not giving up of staging its coronavirus-stalled Season 96.
Fr. Vic Calvo, the NCAA Management Committee chairman from host Letran, yesterday announced that the league will still open amid the public health crisis that crippled the country’s college sports scene.
“Definitely, we’ll push through. First week of May, matutuloy iyan” said Calvo during yesterday’s online Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum.
“We have to be creative. Since the start of the lockdown, we’ve been meeting everyday, halos once a week and we’re meeting regularly on how to do this. We’re glad that nakakuha kami ng partner that pushed us to do the season,” he added.
Among the online sports to be played are chess, taekwondo and poomsae, while the league is trying to get the approval from the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging and Infectious Diseases (IATF) and Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) for the conduct of basketball and indoor volleyball competitions.
The NCAA is also pushing for beach volleyball to be played.
“For sure, at least dalawa o apat na hybrid and online competitions ang hinahanda ng NCAA,” said Calvo, in the public sports program presented by San Miguel Corporation, Go For Gold, MILO, Amelie Hotel Manila, Braska Restaurant, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.
“We’re waiting for the response kasi school-based kami. We wrote a letter three weeks ago. We know there’s no face-to-face, so we have to agree on how far we can do this,” he added.
If the NCAA is not allowed to conduct basketball and volleyball tournaments, the league has back-up plans of doing online events.
“Di tayo nag-give up kasi NCAA embodies the Filipinos’ resiliency and perseverance lalo na sa sports,” said Calvo.
The NCAA will have its new broadcast partner in GMA, where the competitions with be aired via GTV (formerly known as GMA News TV) Channel 11.
Calvo believes that the Letran’s hosting of this extraordinary season will be 400-year old school’s gift to the league. The Intramuros-based school’s hosting of the NCAA was supposed to be a part of its quadricentennial celebration last year.
“I think that’s the best legacy Letran can give to the next season and to the NCAA,” said Calvo.
“We promised, even at the start maraming hindi naniniwala na mapu-push ‘to, pero with the minimum requirement na puwedeng gawin ay gagawin namin na matutuloy ito,” he added.
