Sixth JAM sportsfest on tomorrow

Around 400 athletes from eight Jesuit schools all over the country will vie for honors in the sixth JAM (Jesuits Athletic Meet) sportsfest which reels off at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow at the Ateneo de Manila high school covered courts in Quezon City.

The competing teams are Ateneo de Davao, Ateneo de Zamboanga, Xavier University (Cagayan de Oro City), Ateneo de Naga, Sta. Maria Catholic School (Iloilo), Sacred Heart for Boys (Cebu), Xavier School (Greenhills, San Juan) and host Ateneo de Manila.

Competition will be conducted in basketball, seven-a-side football, table tennis and chess in the high school division and basketball in the grade school level, according to Fr. Raymond Holscher, JAM founder and tournament coordinator.

Basketball action will start shortly after the 7 a.m. Mass at the Ateneo High School chapel.

The Xavier Stallions, led by team captain Paul Chua, are the defending high school champions.

Batang Red Bull players, bannered by PSA basketball players of the year Willie Miller and Enrico Villanueva, will be guests of honor during the opening ceremony.

Miller, named MVP by the Philippine Basketball Association, and Villanueva, the UAAP MVP for his key role in Ateneo’s title conquest, were among the top athletes honored by the Philippine Sportswriters Association during its annual Awards Night last Jan. 10 at Holiday Inn Manila.

Holscher expects this year’s JAM to be more exciting because of the rigid and long preparation by athletes from the eight competing schools.