Eight schools form UCAA

Eight schools, proud of their respective established sports programs, have banded and formed the Universities and Colleges Athletic Association (UCAA) with the main goal of playing a major role in the national sports development program.

The UCAA, which debuts Aug. 20 at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum with no less than Philippine Sports Commission chairman Eric Buhain as guest of honor, is composed of host St. Francis of Assisi, Philippine School of Business Administration-QC, Olivarez College, Colegio de San Lorenzo, La Salle-Dasmariñas, Las Salle-Taft, Emilio Aguinaldo College and National College of Business and Arts.

The new league has the solid backing of FedEx in behalf of the Philippine Basketball Association, Villa de Oro, Hacienda Grill, WinLink Travel and Wilson balls with athletics and swimming as the centerpiece events.

"We’ll have basketball and volleyball, too, but the UCAA decided to focus more on athletics and swimming since the member schools all have the young talents we believe would be the future stars of Philippine sports," said league president Art Onas of SFACS.

The UCAA members are also active in other leagues but hold the distinction of having year-round sports programs–making sports a major part of their students’ education. The inaugural season runs from August to September to maintain the spirit of sportsmanship and the will to excel in the hearts and minds of the Filipino youth the whole year, according to