Arellano University didn’t always go by their now iconic monicker, the Chiefs.
Long before their membership in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), their teams once went by the ‘Flaming Arrows’ and competed in a variety of intercollegiate and commercial fixtures in the 60 and 70s.
In more recent times, though, the Arellano sports program was rekindled after they began to join leagues such as the NCRAA, Father Martin’s Cup, and NAASCU. Going by the ‘Chiefs’, named according to the school website after namesake Cayetano Arellano, the first Filipino Chief Justice of the Philippines, it didn’t take too long before they were invited to participate in the country’s oldest collegiate league.
In 2009, Arellano University participated in the NCAA as a guest team and the school attained probationary status just before the start of the next season. Three years later, the university was able to secure regular membership in Season 89, on April 2, 2013.
Since then, they’ve been able to make their mark on the NCAA.
Arellano’s women’s volleyball program is among the most successful in the league, having won four of the last five seasons. This includes three consecutive titles from 2016 to 2018 with the Lady Chiefs’ list of notable names counting Jovy Prado, Regine Arocha, and Necole Ebuen among its ranks.
It’s men’s basketball program has yet to win championship, but it has been no slouch either, making a pair of finals appearances in Season 90 and Season 92. It has also produced plenty of talented future pros, including Jio Jalalon, Nards Pinto, James Forrester, Prince Caperal, and Keith Agovida.
Though the Chiefs have yet to win an overall championship since joining the NCAA, there is no doubt about the impact they have had in the league.
—JMB, GMA News
