10 teams seek NCAA -South overall crown

MANILA, Philippines - The stakes will be higher for the 10 competing schools in the NCAA South Season 12 as the first overall champion will be named at the end of hostilities in the eight events this year.

According to Saturnino Belen, president of host First Asia Institute of Technology and Humanities, the NCAA South Management Committee has approved the awarding of the first overall championship to the schools which will top the competitions in the men’s, women’s seniors and juniors divisions.

“This will give the competing schools an added incentive to perform better this season,” said Belen during yesterday’s colorful opening ceremonies at the FAITH campus in Tanauan, Batangas.

On tap in the season carrying the theme “More Than The Game, Unity Through Sports” are basketball, volleyball, and chess in the first sem, and table tennis, badminton, taekwondo, and swimming as well as demo events football and beach volleyball in the second sem.

Last year’s cage champ Don Bosco headlines the 10-school field that includes host FAITH, Letran-Calamba, La Salle-Lipa, Lyceum-Batangas, PCU-Dasmariñas, San Beda-Alabang, Perpetual-Biñan, San Pablo Colleges, and candidate member University of Batangas.

The NCAA South’s 12th season kicked off in grand fashion with a motorcade of the teams with their lovely muses, a thrilling acrobats’ performance, a “human LCD” number, and a confetti shower from a real plane highlighting the colorful opener.

Joining the rites were special guests Commissioner Akiko Thomson-Guevarra of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and Reynaldo Gamboa of the Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL), who both lauded as timely the league’s theme of unity through athletic competitions.

At presstime, cagers from host FAITH were battling UB in the juniors and seniors divisions to touch off the action.