MANILA, Philippines?Two seasons from now, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) will have 10 member schools under its wings.
In a marathon six-hour board meeting Thursday, the 84-year-old sports institution agreed to lay down the groundwork for the entry of two more schools in 2010.
The NCAA board officially accepted applications from Emilio Aguinaldo College, Arellano University, Centro Escolar University, Angeles University Foundation and Lyceum of the Philippines University besides getting feelers from Don Bosco Technical College-Mandaluyong and Technological Institute of the Philippines.
NCAA management committee (Mancom) chair Ding Lozano of host Mapua Institute of Technology said the league will pick from among these aspirants the school that will take the slot to be vacated by Philippine Christian University next year.
By 2010, two more schools from the pool of aspirants will be added to the roster, Lozano said.
The PCU Dolphins will take an indefinite leave of absence next season as part of the condition for the school?s reinstatement this year following a suspension slapped by the NCAA for fielding several ineligible players in 2006.
Lozano said PCU will also have to apply along with the other aspiring schools to rejoin the league in 2010 after serving a two-year suspension.
?The target is to maintain the membership of eight schools next year and increase the number by 2010,? said Lozano.
?We will start setting up the criteria for these applicants as soon as practical.?
A reliable source within the NCAA policy board revealed that an applicant needs to cough up P5 million as entry fee.
Once accepted, the school must also participate in the 10 sports calendared by the NCAA for the next three years with entries in the high school and collegiate levels.
Besides basketball, NCAA also holds competition in track and field, beach volleyball, chess, swimming, volleyball, taekwondo, lawn tennis, table tennis and football.
Meanwhile, the joint NCAA policy board and Mancom will still ask Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director Noli Eala to explain in writing the circumstances surrounding the aborted pullout of referees in the recent NCAA Finals.
