UAAP to meet on drummers’ appeal for inclusion in cheerdance competition

FILE – 2019 UAAP Cheerdance Competition. INQUIRER PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The UAAP board will consider the appeal of all eight schools to allow drummers participate in the UAAP Cheerdance Competition on Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena.

After the initial non-inclusion of the drummers to take part in the much-anticipated comeback of the cheerdance in this pandemic era, the drummers of eight schools released a statement asking the officials to let them beat their respective cheers.

“We believe it would only be right for us to also have a place during the iconic UAAP Cheer Dance Competition. We humbly ask that the UAAP consider this request and allow us to bring our drums and to be part of the prestigious CDC. Drums bring life and excitement to the crowd and encourage every UAAP fan to cheer proudly for their school,” the statement read.

“This CDC will not only bring the UAAP schools together but also rekindle the lost memories that could have been made during the two-year absence of the CDC.”

UAAP Season 84 president Nong Calanog said during the event’s press conference on Thursday that the board will have a meeting regarding the appeal of the drummers.

“There was an appeal but we will discuss it with the board and decide if we will go back and look at that decision and see if it’s worth something looking back into,” said Calanog.

The board will announce its decision either on Friday or Saturday.

But the season president stressed they decided not to allow the drummers due to health and safety concerns of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“The primary consideration is really the safety of everyone. Part of that consideration, as compared to basketball games that only have two schools playing and two squads cheering, these are eight schools cheering at the same time,” he explained. “Based on our observations, there are really some spectators that sometimes do not follow rules and take off their masks. Some are really health-related when we decided.”

Besides the possible absence of the drummers, the cheerdance competition will have a unique set-up as each team will only have 15 members from 25 in the past seasons, while the performances will be limited to just three minutes from six minutes.