The fourth episode of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Talk was aired on Facebook last September 27, which highlighted the launching of the UAAP Varsity Channel. The said channel will air classic UAAP games of the past seasons.

The UAAP Varsity Channel is a 24/7 platform to showcase the different stories of the athletic programs of the eight participating schools throughout the years in the league. 

The Nostalgic Factor

Reliving the memories witnessed in the past can help understand the development of the sporting programs throughout the history of the UAAP. 

Creating the UAAP Varsity Channel has made any sports fans experience the greatest moments they witnessed, whether if they saw it live on the arena or the television.

“What’s magical about sports really is [the] nostalgic [feeling]. Any sports fan, the experience of sports you always go back [to] when you first watched and the games you used to watch when you were younger, and when you were in school and that’s really what the UAAP Varsity Channel has built,” Cignal TV Creative Director for Sports programs and Sports Digital Properties Mico Halili shared. 

To witness something in the past and yearn for these memories may rekindle scenarios our eyes may have disregarded because we were so keen on the winning shots and results that we forgot what led to those moments. 

It cannot be denied that the most remembered moments were the highlights, as it appeared on the screens multiple times. But, the build-up to the highlights was often forgotten, and it is surprising to see again how it happened. 

“Even though I saw them all, witnessed them all, you forget about it and let you be surprised, and then suddenly, ‘Uy! Ganoon pala nangyari doon’ (Oh! That's what happened there), so to me that is very important,” FEU Athletics Director Molina said in the UAAP Talk.

The Future is Bright

Through the UAAP Varsity Channel, non-mainstream sports like Baseball, Fencing, Tennis, Badminton, Softball, Beach Volleyball, Track & Field, Taekwondo, Judo, and Swimming, now have an opportunity to be in the spotlight with a much wider audience and be able to tell their stories.

“Once Cignal got the archives, now you have tools, it now allows you for [a] richer storytelling because you can look at the last 20 years and say ‘Okay what story can we tell?'” Halili said.

Molina remarked that it is inspiring to see that the younger generation can witness where the past UAAP stars started. In a way, retelling stories persuade people to catch sight of how the student-athletes braved the adversities and realize that their success was built through hard work, discipline, and passion for their respective sports.

Molina shared that while he watches the UAAP Varsity Channel with his children, he contemplated on the past UAAP players who became successful in the pro leagues and saw differences in how they played then and now.

“My Eldest is [a] super basketball fan and he plays a lot, and he was really very interested to see LA Tenorio play as a point guard because he sees LA in the PBA but not with Ateneo. He was so happy to watch Terrence Romeo play because bilib na bilib siya kay (he was very fond of) Terrence, the way he plays in the PBA, so sabi ko ‘you watch his FEU games when they show it on the UAAP Channel,'” Molina shared.

The UAAP Varsity Channel is available on Cignal CH. 263 HD and Cignal Play to catch the past and present games, stories, and highlights of UAAP.

- Adrian Earl E. Taruc

(Photo screengrab from The UAAP episode 4)