KUMPIYANSA dahil sa gumagandang health situation ng bansa, nasa trangko pa rin ang UAAP na magdaos ng dalawang seasons ngayon.

Habang papalapit na ang pagbubukas ng coronavirus-stalled Season 84 sa March 26 na may limitadong calendar of events, positibo pa rin na maganap ang Season 85 na lalaruin ang lahat ng sports.

“We’re hoping it to be normal as we would have it. What you expect as the traditional sports will be played in the first half of the year, we’re hoping to stage them by September or October so more or less we can go back to that new normal,” sabi ni UAAP president Nonong Calanog ng host La Salle.

Magbubukasa ang bagong season sa pamamagitan ng men’s basketball tournament na tatakbo hanggang Mayo, na agad susundan ng women’s volleyball competitions.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to run the bubble very efficiently that there won’t be any postponed dates,” sabi Calanog, na nagsabing ang men’s basketball tournament ay may bubble format, na siyang magsisilbing dryrun para sa collegiate league.

Isa sa malaking adjustments ng liga ay ang pagpapalawak ng men’s basketball roster sa 20 players ngayong season – na may apat na reserves na siyang papalit sa alimang student-athlete na mag-positibo sa COVID sa torneo.

Sa oras na matapos ang basketball event, idaraos ng UAAP ang iba pang events, na kinabibilangan ng cheerdance, men’s beach volleyball, men’s and women’s 3×3 basketball, poomsae and men’s at women’s chess.

“We’ll start volleyball after men’s basketball,” sabi ni Calanog. “As for the other sports, our target is to have them play by towards end of May so that they can have more time to prepare and hopefully, if the situation really eases up by that time, we may not need to have them in the bubble.”

Umaasa ang UAAP na ang Season 85, na magsisilbing host ang Adamson, na may full athletic calendar ngayong taon.

“As early as now, we’re talking with other teams and discuss how we’ll bring sports back slowly,” sabi ni Calanog.