The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is determined to open its 97th Season on March 5 as scheduled, even if its face-to-face competitions in volleyball and basketball remain in question.
Online taekwondo and chess competitions will kick off the season, which will have the theme “Stronger Together” as all schools continue to grapple with the pandemic.
St. Benilde sports director Stephen Fernandez, whose school hosts the coming season, said everything has been put in place with regard to online chess, poomsae and speed-kicking competitions, which were also played last year.
“We at St. Benilde have prepared for bubble training in basketball and volleyball before the change in the alert level classification, but now just like other member schools, we are waiting for the go-signal,” Fernandez told Sports Radio.
The league will be seeking an exemption to play volleyball and basketball under alert level 3 or higher.
Dax Castellano, St. Benilde’s representative to the NCAA management committee, said face-to-face competitions like women’s volleyball and men’s basketball offer a lot of excitement as they aim to kick off school sports after two years of inactivity.