THE UAAP will introduce an esports tournament this Season 86, with all eight member schools pledging to participate by forming teams in three video games: Valorant, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and NBA 2K.
The decision to include esports as an official sporting event follows the success of Sibol, the Philippines’ official esports team, which won six medals in the 2023 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games last May.
UAAP executive director Rebo Saguisag stated that the league is prepared to engage with the esports ecosystem to meet the growing demand for it.
“The demand is there, each member school already has their clubs—several,” Saguisag said in a December One News interview. “So it’s just really a matter of tapping into this ecosystem…times have changed and it’s time to embrace it.”
Saguisag said esports will start as a demonstration sport, but he anticipates it becoming an official sport in the future.
He acknowledged that the challenge of introducing new sports to the UAAP always involves budgetary considerations.
“The bigger challenge is from the point of view of the member schools who have to maintain those teams,” he said. “New teams mean new tuition, uniforms, coaching; lahat ‘yan may budgetary concerns.”
UST will be represented by the Teletigers Esports Club in the tournament. The Teletigers have been representing the University and participating in various tournaments but have yet to receive recognition from the Office for Student Affairs.
Nicole Paguio, the president of the Teletigers, said the Institute of Physical Education and Athletics (IPEA) has been supportive of the organization’s preparations for the upcoming demonstration tournament.
“IPEA’s role and support is essential,” she said. “This is not just like the usual collegiate tournament our teams join.”
The UST Teletigers Esports Club opened tryouts for the three games on Feb. 24.
For Valorant, online tryouts are being conducted through Discord, while practices for NBA 2K and Mobile Legends aspirants are taking place on the 16th floor of the Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati Building.
General requirements include being enrolled for both terms with at least 15 units, and passing 12 units during the first semester. Incomplete grades are considered as failing marks, and the National Service Training Program is not included in the number of units.
Specific qualifications for each game vary based on skill and rank, and all aspiring players must have their own device.
