Current season, competition or edition:![]() | |
Sport | Basketball |
---|---|
Founded | October 8, 2016 |
First season | 2016 |
Director | Bernard Yang, Carmelo Navarro, Willy Chan |
Commissioner | Horacio Lim |
No. of teams | 9 |
Country | ![]() |
Most recent champion(s) | CEU |
TV partner(s) | Smart Sports |
The Universities and Colleges Athletic League (UCAL) started as a collegiate basketball tournament based in the Philippines, which was established in 2016. The inaugural season of the UCBL officially opened on October 8, 2016 with seven competing schools from Metro Manila and nearby provinces competing in the tournament. [1]
Organized by the Universities and Colleges Athletic League, Inc. (UCAL), headed by the league's president Franklin Evidente, UCBL's mission is to give better opportunities for aspiring players as well as showcase their talents in the hard court. In addition, the league will provide better officiating of the games and to give the players and teams the opportunity to be seen on national television.Future teams Trinity University of Asia, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Our Lady of Fatima University and New Era University is interested to join the league to complete the power house institution to be able to compete with UAAP and NCAA Philippines [1] [2]
All games are to be held at the Paco Arena every Mondays and Thursdays, The Live telecast of the games are aired on Smart Sports through livestreaming coverage provided by Smart Communications.
The group of referees from the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas were tapped to officiate the games. [1]
The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), established in 1938, is an athletic association of eight Metro Manila universities in the Philippines. The eight-member schools are Adamson University (AdU), Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University (DLSU), Far Eastern University (FEU), National University (NU), University of the East (UE), University of the Philippines Diliman (UP), and the University of Santo Tomas (UST).
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is an athletic association of ten private colleges and universities in Metro Manila, Philippines. Established in 1924, it is the oldest collegiate athletic association in the country. The Philippine NCAA is not affiliated with the NCAA of the United States.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association – South, established in 1999, is a regional athletic association for colleges and universities in the National Capital Region and Calabarzon regions in the Philippines. Currently, the NCAA-South has eleven member schools: First Asia Institute of Technology and Humanities, Colegio De San Juan De Letran - Calamba, De La Salle Lipa, Lyceum of the Philippines University–Batangas, Philippine Christian University– Dasmariñas, San Pablo Colleges, Emilio Aguinaldo College Cavite, University of Perpetual Help System Laguna, San Beda College Alabang, TRACE College and University of Batangas.
The Premier Volleyball League (PVL) is the top-level professional women's volleyball league in the Philippines organized by the Sports Vision Management Group, Inc. The PVL was established in 2004 as the inter-collegiate Shakey's V-League (SVL) until it rebranded to the current entity in 2017. Prior to becoming a full-fledged professional league in 2021, the PVL was open to participation of corporate owned semi-professional clubs and non-collegiate teams backed by local governments.
The Ateneo Blue Eagles are the collegiate varsity teams of the Ateneo de Manila University that play in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), the premiere collegiate league in the Philippines. The collegiate women's varsity basketball team is called the Lady Eagles. The Ateneo collegiate men's varsity basketball team was not always called the Blue Eagles. It got the name Blue Eagles when Ateneo adopted the Eagle as its mascot in 1938. Prior to that, from 1914 it was known under different names.
The UST Growling Tigers and Tigresses are the college athletic teams representing the University of Santo Tomas in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. They hold the most UAAP Overall Championships with 47 Seniors' Overall Championships and 23 Juniors' Overall Championships.
College basketball in the Philippines is fragmented; as of today there is no single governing body, with several leagues in Metro Manila and in the provinces. The University Athletic Association of the Philippines and National Collegiate Athletic Association (Philippines) champions are considered to be the major champions, although several other leagues, claim their champions in equal standing with those of the UAAP and the NCAA.
Basketball is the most popular sport in the Philippines, played on both the amateur and professional levels.
Siverino A. "Nonoy" Baclao Jr. is a Filipino professional basketball player who last played for the San Miguel Beermen of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). A forward, he played three seasons for the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines from 2007 to 2009 and led the Eagles to back-to-back basketball championships in his last two seasons with them. He also played for the Philippine Patriots in the ASEAN Basketball League and led the team as the inaugural champion of the 2009-10 ABL season.
The 2013 Philippine Collegiate Championship was the sixth edition of the Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL), the postseason tournament to determine the national collegiate champions in basketball organized by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP), the national basketball federation. The tournament was the sixth edition of the tournament in its current incarnation, and the eleventh edition overall.
The following is a list of notable events and developments that are related to Philippine sports in 2015.
UAAP Season 79 is the 2016–2017 athletic year of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). This season, hosted by the University of Santo Tomas officially opened on September 3, 2016. The opening ceremony was held at the UST Plaza Mayor at 3:00 pm with the formal introduction of ballroom dancing as a demonstration sport in this season by the host school University of Santo Tomas (UST) at España, Manila. The official ceremony started at 5:00 pm as there was a concert party themed "Dare to Dream" where the official theme song for the season was revealed. However, unlike in the previous years when the first double-header basketball games were held following the opening ceremonies, this year it was held the following day, September 4 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Philippine Secondary Schools Basketball Championship (PSSBC) is an amateur basketball tournament participated by different high school basketball teams from the NCAA, UAAP and Filipino-Chinese leagues. PSSBC's mission is to provide an avenue for young basketball players to further hone their skills before they will advanced in the collegiate level. The PSSBC was founded in December 2012, by the Fil-Chinese owners of different brands, sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) and supported by Ever Bilena/Blackwater Elite, Rain or Shine, Freego, Jumbo Plastic Linoleum, MEC Networks, Hapee Toothpaste, Dickies Underwear, and Ironcon Builders.
The Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) is a sports and academic association of 17 schools, colleges and universities in Cebu, Philippines. The CESAFI was established in 2001.
The following is a list of notable events and developments that are related to Philippine sports in 2017.
The following is a list of notable events and developments that are related to Philippine sports in 2018.
The 2018 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball team represented University of Santo Tomas in the 81st season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. The men's basketball tournament for the school year 2018-19 began on September 8, 2018, and the host school for the season was National University.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the conduct of sports in the Philippines affecting both competitive sports leagues and tournaments and recreational sports.
The Shakey's Super League (SSL) is a women's volleyball league in the Philippines contested within the collegiate and high school levels. The league is organized by Shakey's Pizza Asia Ventures Inc. (SPAVI) and the Athletic Events and Sports Management Group Inc. (ACES).
Rensy Bajar is a Filipino basketball coach currently serves as lead assistant coach for the NorthPort Batang Pier of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He's also coaching the Diliman Blue Dragons of UCAL.