NCAA turns 100: The history of the Philippines’ oldest collegiate sports league
MANILA, Philippines – The year 1924 is, indeed, one of the most notable periods in the history of Philippine sports.
Not only did the country make its Olympic debut, but it also witnessed the founding of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) — the first and oldest varsity sports league in the Philippines.
The NCAA became a platform for athletes aspiring to excel in their respective sports. Despite challenges like World War II and structural changes, the league has persevered and is now celebrating its 100th year.
As NCAA marks its centennial anniversary with the theme “Siglo Uno: Inspiring Legacies,” Rappler looks back on how the Philippines’ oldest collegiate athletic league has evolved over the years.
The founder
The NCAA was founded in 1924 under the initiative of Dr. Regino Ylanan, a Filipino athlete, sports historian, and physical education professor at UP who rose to fame after winning three gold medals for track and field in the 1913 Far Eastern Championship Games in Manila.
The sports league, however, was not the only “first” that Ylanan got involved with, as he had also trained lone Filipino delegate and first Olympic representative David Nepomuceno, who competed in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash in the 1924 Paris Olympics.
A surgeon by profession, Ylanan became a medical officer for the Philippine team during the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, where the country won its first Olympic bronze medal through swimmer Teofilo Yldefonso.
He was also there to witness the country’s impressive Olympic run during the 1936 Berlin Games, where 400-meter low hurdles bet Miguel White secured another bronze medal, 50m smallbore rifle shooter Martin Gison placed fourth, and the Philippine men’s basketball team secured a notable fifth-place finish.
In 1999, Ylanan received a posthumous award from the Philippine Sportswriters Association for being one of the “Sports Leaders of the Millennium.”
The NCAA’s basketball event prides itself on being 15 years ahead of its United States counterpart, which began holding hoops tournaments in 1939.
Member schools
The league’s original members included the UP, the University of Santo Tomas (UST), Ateneo de Manila, De La Salle, National University (NU), University of Manila (UM), San Beda College (SBC), and Far Eastern University (FEU), then known as the Institute of Account.
Some original members, however, opted out of the NCAA after the league’s board of directors’ decision to file papers of incorporation to the then-Bureau of Commerce. Member schools UP, UST, FEU, and NU would later form the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) in 1938, a rival league of the NCAA.
The remaining schools would soon be joined by Jose Rizal University (JRU) in 1927, and Mapua Institute of Technology in 1930.
The league experienced a boom in the post-war years. Before the well-known rivalry of Ateneo and La Salle today, Ateneo found an equally exciting rivalry with San Beda University. However, the boom did not last long as unprofessionalism drove out some of the league’s members. Ateneo left the NCAA in 1978 citing violence, and La Salle followed suit in 1980.
The loss of some of its members drove the league to recruit new schools in its roster. The University of Perpetual Help System Dalta (UPHSD) was admitted in 1984, and both the Philippine Christian University and the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) during the 1990s. Arellano University and Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) joined the NCAA in 2009 as guest teams, and finally the Lyceum of the Philippines (LPU) University in 2011.
The EAC and Lyceum’s admission as regular members in 2015 brought the league’s members to 10.
To date, the current members of the NCAA are Arellano, Letran, Benilde, JRU, San Beda, San Sebastian, Mapua, Perpetual Help, EAC, and Lyceum.
Sports venues
The NCAA has used several venues throughout its history. Initially, games were held at the UP grounds in Padre Faura in Manila, followed by a move to Nozaleda Park (now the Agrifina Circle in Luneta) in 1926, according to the NCAA’s website.
In the 1930s, the league shifted to the 31st Infantry Gymnasium in Intramuros, now the site of Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila. By 1936, with the completion of the Rizal Memorial Coliseum, the NCAA found its new home and began holding its games there.
In 1952, with the construction of the Ateneo gym in Loyola, some NCAA games were also played at this new venue. Araneta Coliseum also hosted games for this collegiate league in 1960. For the 100th season of NCAA men’s basketball, the venue for the games is at FilOil EcoOil Centre.
Expanding sports
Initially, the NCAA offered 10 sports for both the juniors and seniors division: basketball, football, track and field, swimming, tennis, volleyball, chess, table tennis, taekwondo, and beach volleyball. These games, however, only consisted of men’s teams.
It was only in 1975 when the NCAA started having a women’s division for its volleyball tournament. A few decades later, women’s sports became progressively standardized and demonstration sports like cheerdance, badminton, and soft tennis were added to the list of NCAA events.
Legends of the NCAA
Dubbed “Big Difference,” Carlos Loyzaga was one of the best players the Philippines has ever produced under the NCAA. Son of a football player, Loyzaga played for the Red Lions where he led the team to three NCAA championships along with the much coveted Crispulo Zamora Cup, the honor given to a school with three consecutive crowns.
He would go on to help represent the Philippines in international games, winning gold in the 1951 Asian Games and finishing ninth place in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.
Loyzaga was posthumously inducted to the FIBA Hall of Fame, becoming the first Filipino player to be included.
Another Olympian was Lauro Mumar. Nicknamed “The Fox,” he, alongside Herminio “Togay” Astorga, played for the Letran Knights, where they formed the much dreaded “Murder, Inc.,” having led Letran to the NCAA title in 1950.
Mumar played for the Philippines in the 1948 London Olympics where they placed 12th. He also joined Loyzaga in playing for the Philippines in the 1951 and 1954 Asian Games.
Apart from these athletes, other Olympians with roots in the NCAA have also represented the country in their respective sports.
Mapua’s Simeon Toribio represented the Philippines in Track and Field at the Amsterdam (1928) and Berlin (1936) Olympics. Toribio also later on served as congressman of Bicol’s second district. Letran’s José Padilla competed in boxing at the Los Angeles (1932) and Berlin (1936) Games. Sambiao Basanung from Letran made waves in swimming during the Helsinki Olympics, while another swimmer, Mapua’s Agapito Lozada, took part in the Melbourne Olympics in 1956.
Championships
The first-ever basketball title was won by UP, which won against Ateneo by just two points.
At that time, the NCAA did not issue awards like the Most Valuable Player and the general champion. It was only a few years later that the sports league began giving such awards, with the first ever MVP for basketball being Charles Borck in 1936 and Mapua University as the first general champion in 1960.
As of 2022, Mapua has the most wins across all sports in the NCAA with 29 general championships. San Beda followed suit at 22 and Letran at 17.
San Beda is currently on a campaign to win back-to-back men’s basketball titles after bagging its 23rd win against Mapua last year. The team also started strong during the opening of the NCAA Season 100 men’s basketball tournament.
San Beda widened its lead over Letran’s 20 basketball titles, with its opponent last season, Mapua, joining JRU with six wins each.
Looking ahead
For its centennial anniversary, the NCAA heeded to the public’s request and revealed its plan to host sports festivals where people could participate in games like powerlifting, sports climbing, obstacle sports, arnis, wushu, karate, and esports.
NCAA Season 100 management committee chairman Hercules Calanta had previously expressed his hopes of making powerlifting and gymnastics a permanent part of the sports league in honor of Olympic gold medalists Hidilyn Diaz and Carlos Yulo.
Calanta said the new sports events to be featured in the festivals can be seen as “potential honor earners in the world.”
“What we see here is something that is different, it is the excitement of which, sports are played very high. The development of athletes, they come from all walks of life,” he said.
“You see them develop to their best at the end of their career in the NCAA. That provides us with a rich legacy and pamana (heritage) to the sporting industry and community in the Philippines,” Callanta said. – Barbra Althea Gavilan, Ramon Franco Verano, and James Patrick Cruz/Rappler.com
Barbra Althea Gavilan is a Rappler intern. She is a fourth-year journalism student at the University of Santo Tomas.
Ramon Franco Verano is a Rappler volunteer. He is a fourth-year history student at the University of Santo Tomas.