THE oldest collegiate league in the country has formally elevated the status of Arellano University and Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) from guest teams to probationary members for Season 86.
Val Cayco, Arellano University’s chief marketing officer and concurrent athletic affairs head, said they received the news in a letter from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) on Friday.
“It’s a happy news for us because it’s really our dream to be part of as big a league as the NCAA,” Cayco said in a statement.
The letter was signed by league president and San Beda rector Rev. Fr. Mateo de Jesus, ODB.
“In behalf of the members of the Policy Board of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, I wish to formally convey to you the admission of Arellano University as a regular member of the league on a probationary status starting Season 86,” de Jesus wrote.
The decision, said de Jesus, was arrived at during the Policy Board meeting held last January 20 at San Beda College.
“We in the Policy Board congratulate Arellano University in this momentous occasion and we look forward to your active participation in the years ahead,” he added.
Terms and conditions like the "entrance fee," events to be participated in, among others would be announced soon, said de Jesus.
“The terms and conditions that will govern our acceptance will be sent at a later date in a separate communication,” he added.
EAC has also received a similar notification and expressed excitement to show its wares again next season.
The EAC Chiefs and the Generals along with the Angeles University Foundation (AUF) Great Danes saw action in the ongoing Season 85 merely as guest teams.
In basketball, Arellano University proved it could compete with the big boys by finishing a strong fifth place while EAC showed some flashes of brilliance with wins over highly-touted members like San Beda and Colegio de San de Letran.
The NCAA management in June gave Arellano University, EAC and AUF equal opportunities to vie for the championship titles of events like volleyball, football, track and field, swimming and cheerdance.
The league added that the result of the teams' showing in the six sports will reflect on their bids to be regular members of the eighty-six-year-old league. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)