Touch of Olympics marks kickoff

MANILA, Philippines - Deviating from tradition and probably setting a template for future openers, the UAAP kicks off its Season 74 with a grand, Olympic-style rites at the Marikina Sports Complex featuring not just popular basketball players but all UAAP athletes.

A total of 3,700 athletes from all 15 sports played in the UAAP troop to the spacious Marikina venue today to march like real Olympians around the oval in the 4 p.m. opening ceremonies, where 600 program participants and close to 8,000 students, alumni and fans are also expected.

And just like a typical curtain-raiser of the Games, an outstanding alumnus of the hosts, former Ateneo star Olsen Racela, will carry the torch and light the cauldron to symbolize the start of the season.

Also highlighting the kickoff is the solemn entry of colors in which cadets from host Ateneo will bring in a 60 x 30 feet flag, according to UAAP Season 74 president Ricky Palou.

“What we want is to highlight all the athletes of the UAAP, not just in basketball but in all sports,” UAAP secretary-treasurer Emmanuel Fernandez said.

Thirty-eight-time general champion University of Santo Tomas (UST), a basketball lightweight of late but a dominant force when all the 15 sports are taken into account, sends a sizeable delegation of 627 to the parade.

The rest of the members schools are also in full support of the extravaganza with University of the East enlisting 512 athletes, followed by University of the Philippines (425), De La Salle University (417), Adamson University (300), Far Eastern University (300) and National University (260).

Season 74 host Ateneo is coming in full force, headed by Ateneo president Fr. Jett Villarin, SJ, who will join the entire UAAP board, top officials and alumni of the eight member schools in the VIP section.

Ateneo’s 30-piece Blue Symphony, Company of Ateneo Dancers, Ateneo Junior Marketing Association Dancers, Ateneo Residence Students Association Dormers Dancers, Indak (Ateneo High Dancers) and the Ateneo Boys’Choir, Glee Club and Chamber Singers and a 165-strong Blue Babble Battalion will provide production numbers.

The two-hour ceremony will go on “as long as there’s no typhoon,” according to Fernandez. But in the event of rain, some 4,000 color-coded umbrellas will be utilized, adding color to the festivities.

Actual games start tomorrow at the Araneta Coliseum with a pair of blockbuster matches pitting Far Eastern U and La Salle at 1 p.m. and Ateneo kicking off its four-peat bid against Adamson at 3 p.m.