UAAP Season 74 host Ateneo to have Olympic-style opening

The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) opens on July 9 with a one-of-a-kind ceremony at the Marikina Sports Center. Season 74 president Richard Palou said this year’s opening ceremonies will be similar to the Olympics, which will include a parade of athletes and a torch relay. "We want something different and try something new. All athletes from various sports will participate in the opening ceremonies and show everybody that UAAP is not just basketball," said Palou in Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum. The opening ceremony of Season 74, with a theme ‘All Out, All Heart,’ will showcase a parade show and a group of Ateneo graduates will be singing the UAAP theme song. The torch relay has already making rounds from the eight UAAP member schools, with the lighting of the torch serving as the highlight of the ceremony on opening day. "We have already done the torch relay and the people can also witness the lighting of the torch run from Marikina going to the sports complex," said UAAP secretary treasurer Em Fernandez. Fernandez added they have a back-up plan in case if it rains. "It (torch relay and lighting) would not be cancelled. We are well-prepared for the rain," said Fernandez, who was also joined by Ateneo team manager Paolo Trillo and National University athletic director Junel Baculi. Games in the men’s basketball tournament will be played the next day, July 10, with Far Eastern University facing La Salle at 1 p.m. followed by four-peat seeking Ateneo facing Adamson at 3 p.m. Trillo said the Blue Eagles will be playing minus Ryan Buenafe, Art Dela Cruz and Mark Tallo. Buenafe is reportedly overweight while Dela Cruz has already transferred to San Beda. Tallo, meanwhile, did not enroll this semester and decided to return to his hometown in Cebu. – Reuben Terrado/JVP, GMA News