While the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) is set to open its 96th season on Sunday, it won’t be like most seasons.
In a virtual media conference held on Friday, NCAA Management Committee member Paul Supan of Jose Rizal University clarified that while games played during this season will be recorded in the history books, the league will be not be awarding the general championship at the end of the season.
“There will be no overall champion because of the limited events. Historically, the NCAA, I believe sometime in the 60s when they didn’t have the full calendar of events, they called it a loose conference. So we’re patterning it after that,” Supan said.
“But the results of whatever games we will be having here will be recorded,” he added.
NCAA Season 96, which is set to begin airing with an opening ceremony on Sunday, is set to feature taekwondo competitions, including poomsae and speed kicking, and a chess tournament. There is also a proposal for individual, non-contact skills challenges for basketball and volleyball, though this has not yet been formalized.
The NCAA ManCom members in attendance, including Supan and chairman Fr. Victor Calvo Jr., O.P., also said that due to the special nature of the season, participation in this year’s tournaments would not count against a player’s maximum number of playing years.
"Because these are special events, they won’t be counted against their playing years," Supan said.
However, some restrictions such as the age limit, will continue to be implemented.
The season will open with the exclusive coverage of the poomsae competition, which will include standard men’s, women’s and juniors’ division and a freestyle event, from June 14 to June 17. After that will be the speed-kicking competition, which will run from June 18 to July 5 and will feature men’s, women’s and juniors’ divisions as well.
The rest of the schedule, including the online chess tournament, will be announced at a later time.
‘Rise Up Stronger: NCAA Season 96’ will air every weekday (2:45 p.m.), Saturdays (4:30 p.m.), and Sundays (5:05 p.m.) on GTV.
—JMB, GMA News
