PIRATES are not only hooked on buried treasures nowadays.
Instead of breeding talents via a juniors program, colleges nowadays prefer raiding a rival school’s athletic farmhouse to “seize” high school standouts come graduation day and fortify their crippled line-ups.
With this alarming trend, the board of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) has come up with a new rule that requires high school graduates transferring to another UAAP member school to serve a one-year residency before playing in the seniors division.
This new rule, approved last May 22, is absolute, unless a transferee secures a written clearance from the school where he or she graduated from. The clearance means the player’s high school allows their former student to play for his or her university of choice.
Non-transferees may still play for their respective seniors teams, without residency, if they choose to.
The new rule fosters transparency among teams and underlines the importance of homegrown talents, according to Fr. Ermito De Sagon, director of the UST Institute of Physical Education (IPEA).
“We are trying to lessen the situations wherein players whom we spend our money and effort on, go and play for a competitor without us knowing,” De Sagon told the Varsitarian.
The transfer of players is inevitable since seven of the 16 events in the UAAP have junior teams: athletics, basketball, chess, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo and volleyball.
Though the rule was made to ensure equal opportunities between teams, controversy erupted when former Far Eastern University (FEU) junior basketball players Dexter Rosales, Jomar Paulino, Mark Lopez, and Socrates Rivera opted to play for the UP Fighting Maroons which dealt a blow to the Tamaraw’s roster build-up for season 70. Lopez and Rivera were part of the juniors mythical team last season.
Anton Montinola, UAAP board member and FEU team manager, disbanded the Tamaraws basketball squad during the off-season after failing to crack the final four in season 69. Montinola had relied on the four fresh faces to resurrect the chances of the hapless Tamaraws upon their graduation from high school.
After learning the players’ supposed exodus, Montinola was said to have called for the new rule in an attempt to stop the former Baby Tamaraws departure from FEU.
But Montinola’s alleged counterattack against his former wards is unlikely, De Sagon said. “This rule had already been proposed two years ago, it is only this year that it was approved,” De Sagon said.
As far as UST is concerned, De Sagon stressed that athletes are primarily students who would not have a problem securing clearances once they seek higher education elsewhere, provided they first obtain the necessary document for release. “We will not force students to play if their heart is not in it,” the IPEA director said.
