It ended the way it began—with a bang. Season 81 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) pulled the curtains down on an ultra exciting and interesting season in true National University (NU) fashion—with a closing ceremonies as eye-popping and as all-engaging as its opening day.
That event, which happened in September, was highlighted by an extravaganza of dance and cheer numbers, dazzling lights, immersive bands, videos, a K-pop mini concert and the sensational presence of National Basketball Association (NBA) superstar Stephen Curry.
Like a fitting bookend partner, this event in May pleasantly stunned and held the attention of even its most mercurial audiences: the millennials. This was one unforgettable UAAP Closing Ceremonies.
You could in fact feel it in the air as you approached the Mall of Asia Arena. Swarms of student-athletes wearing their school colors walked briskly toward entrances. The avid mood wrapped the afternoon in a carnival atmosphere quite rare for most closing ceremonies.
From the opening number that introduced student-athlete contingents from each school to the recap video that captured every dunk, swat, kill, stroke, stride and thrust this season, the audience was entertained. Immrsv Asia’s flawless production details and enhancements added drama to the stage goings-on, and the audience interacted with cheers, applause and casual hoots. ABS-CBN TV host Janeena Chan, played her emcee role to perfection, gliding in and out of segments perfectly, facilitating transitions from video to live, and from speaker to speaker with natural finesse and ease.
Thus the normally “graduation-like” character of the closing ceremonies, which is traditionally highlighted by the announcement of the Overall Champions in the junior and seniors division, the Most Valuable Players in each sport and the Athlete of the Year, was transformed into a fast-paced Billboard Music Awards-like presentation. The audience loved it.
And when Golden Tigress Sisi Rondina accepted her award as Athlete of the Year for her fantastic contributions to University of Santo Tomas volleyball, her greatness and the glory of her award weren’t lost on the cheering crowd. Everybody acknowledged that no one deserved it better.
When it came time to turn over the reigns of the league from NU to the Ateneo de Manila, percussive sounds and beats from the NU drumline called the audience’s attention to the symbolic transfer of leadership. An Ateneo drumline responded with their own beats and signified the successful transition for dramatic effect. Then NU President Dr. Renato Carlos Ermita Jr. spoke and recalled the uniqueness of Season 81—the mounting excitement from the elims to the rocky journey of the Final Four, the highly unpredictable outcomes and the human drama that unfolded in every sport this season: basketball, volleyball, football, baseball, swimming, softball and fencing, among the most memorable.
For his part, Ateneo de Manila President Fr. Jett Villarin, S.J., accepted the responsibility of leading the UAAP in Season 82 and invited everyone to dream and hope and aspire even better next year. The key word was “more.” We should do more, expect more, achieve more, he said. Season 82 will be truly unique as it is a Southeast Asian Games year and a Fiba World Cup year, as well.
When the NU president put a jacket around the Ateneo president’s shoulders to visually symbolize the turnover, gold and blue glitters rained down the stage. It transformed everything into a magical, Disney-like moment. The torch was passed.
But the audience had more coming their way. Mini concerts from UDD (Up Dharma Down) and Unique Salonga (former front man of the IV of Spades) followed and sent the mostly young audience to seventh heaven, particularly when UDD sang crowd favorite “Tadhana” and Unique went into his emotional “Midnight Sky.”
But wait, there’s more. A lucky draw kept everyone in their seats till the very end. Vivo cell phones and Nintendo Switch gaming consoles were raffled off to the audience, sending the young into a tizzy.
But they probably all stayed to get a crack at winning the main prize of the evening—a brand new, fiery red Suzuki Swift. It was the first time ever in the history of UAAP Closing or Opening Ceremonies that a raffle of this size was held. In the end, a University of the Philippines College of Human Kinetics employee (Clem de la Peña) won the raffle and went home with the new car.
Everybody else lost, but that was not how everybody felt. This was a UAAP closing ceremonies to remember because everybody’s senses were engaged and activated by a smorgasbord of delights and spectacles. Everybody felt like a winner.
Now comes a little less than three months of a UAAP-less existence and gameless weekends. There will surely be withdrawal symptoms for avid fans. But before we know it, it will be Season 82. And in fact, first semester teams are getting ready for the next season already. The music never ends.