The National Collegiate Athletics’ Association (NCAA) will be bringing back basketball games closer to the students this year in its reintroduction of ‘NCAA on Tour’.
Introduced back in Season 87, NCAA on Tour seeks to reignite the passion of audiences to the league as games are held at venues of member schools. Now, the league will revive it in its upcoming 93rd season to provide better connection to students and empower the games even more.
REBUILDING CONNECTION
Crowd attendance has been a problem of the league for the past seasons. Only a few students were watching the games for numerous occasions for reasons like time constraints and venue distance, while some opt to watch just in their televisions to prevent the inconvenience of commuting.
NCAA on Tour brings in a solution that will be convenient for the fans as the move seeks to rekindle school spirit, bringing the games into schools’ respective home floors.
In return, Letran gladly opened its doors for the opportunity.
“Yung purpose naman kasi nun is para ma-develop ‘yung school spirit,” said Rev. Fr. Victor Calvo, O.P., Letran’s Athletics Director.
Calvo also said that he sees no barriers when hosting games in the school’s own Blessed Antonio Varona Gymnasium, since the purpose of the tour is to make the games viable for the students to witness.
“If there is an NCAA [game] doon sa school then there’s no reason na walang manonood,” bared Calvo. “In our part naman tatawid ka lang sa kalsada.”
SCHOOL EXPOSURE
Aside from convenience, Calvo said that the tour will also help in the exposure of institutions because facilities will be shown during live coverage.
“Pinakamaganda kasi dyan is i-fe-feature ‘yung school ng ABS-CBN during the games and before the games,” said Calvo. “Maganda din exposure, dito na ‘yung coverage eh, parang showcase mo na ‘yun. Kung kailangan natin ipagawa ‘yung gym, ipapagawa natin,” he added.
The league will hold three games each week with games on Tuesdays and Fridays at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan, while the Thursday play dates will be used for the tour. However, some schools such as Lyceum of the Philippines University, San Sebastian College-Recoletos, and College of Saint Benilde may not be able to host big audiences.
Season 93 will kick off on July 8 at the Mall of Asia Arena. All seniors’ basketball games will still be aired live on ABS-CBN Sports and Action.