March 12, 2011 marked the end of another year in Manila’s collegiate sports scene. During the UAAP closing ceremonies at the Araneta Coliseum, University of Santo Tomas officials accepted yet another General Championship trophy. It was an accolade they’ve held for more than a decade in the Seniors Division.

Ateneo’s role in the event? Its officials were merely accepting next year’s hosting duties, which were turned over from La Salle. The Blue and White’s role was a formality; the same could probably be said of their participation in the UAAP General Championship race based on the final standings.

Ateneo garnered 206 points in the overall standings to finish 5th behind UST, La Salle, FEU and UP who had 313, 263, 221 and 219 points respectively. It was a spot that Team Ateneo has gotten used to ever since its entrance to the UAAP.

They finished with two titles in Men’s Basketball and Judo. But aside from a combined seven Top 3 finishes in other sports, they failed to make any improvement from last year’s rankings. Ateneo has always been part of the bottom half of the overall table. Its highest finish ever was 4th when the UAAP was composed of only seven teams due to La Salle’s suspension.

While the hordes of students and alumni may see the Men’s Basketball three-peat as the real must-win event, Ateneo’s showing this year is woeful―especially for a university that prides itself on having well-rounded students and an impressive athletic tradition. Will a mediocre mid-table finish such as this be deemed acceptable?

It is an interesting query why Ateneo can’t seem to get over the hill and become a real contender in the overall race. With no improvement in recent years, it would be vital to take a look at the school’s athletics program.

Blue Eagles, the kings

One of the first possible scapegoats is that, in a country where basketball rules, the university puts its support behind basketball at the expense of other programs. After all, despite the struggles of the overall athletics program, the Blue Eagles have won a three-peat and is a perennial contender when it comes to Men’s Basketball.

But Emmanuel Fernandez of the University Athletics Office (UAO) dismisses this perception. “It wouldn’t be practical to focus on basketball. They already have a good program so it would really be more important to focus on other sports,” he said.

With the resources already stable for the Men’s Basketball program, perhaps ground-level support from the students is needed. Lady Trackster Mica Sibayan sees how much basketball takes majority of the fanfare at the expense of other sports. “I understand why basketball gets all the attention but it’s disappointing how everyone is unaware of other sports,” she said.

But with backers like Manuel V. Pangilingan, the Blue Eagles look secure for the future, unlike other sports programs. Especially with the likes of Greg Slaughter and Kiefer Ravena coming in, the three-peat champions can be confident with the promise all these high-profile basketball names are bringing to Loyola Heights.

Blue chip recruits

In any sports program, recruits are central to the success of a team. Especially at the college level, recruitment wars are the toughest and at times cutthroat.

One old excuse usually pointed out is that Ateneo cannot draw all its potential recruits due to its academic standards. But what may be an even greater disadvantage is that Ateneo has the second smallest student population in the UAAP.

“The more students you have, the more slots you have for potential athletic scholars,” said Fernandez. Due to the early enrolment period, these potential athletic scholars also miss out on the Palarong Pambansa during the summer, an event that gathers the best young sports talents in the country.

Having scarce athletes forces teams to field smaller line-ups, as is the case with the Blue Batters, who fielded just over half the roster spots allowevd. But Fernandez said that this is not a disadvantage, saying that it will be more practical to have 10 good athletes than a whole roster of average athletes.

However, this does not necessarily hold true for all sports. In Women’s Track and Field, Ateneo fielded only 10 athletes out of the 20 allowed. The Lady Tracksters couldn’t excel in every event and therefore, their overall standing was hurt.

With so many roster spots needing to be filled, some teams such as the Blue Paddlers and Blue Judokas had to recruit from PE classes on campus. It is therefore not surprising that Team Ateneo has difficulty competing in the General Championship race—what with such a disparity in the talent level.

Practice makes perfect

Despite the judo team’s lack of recruits, they make up for it in program and training that allows the Blue Judokas to compete at the UAAP level. But this is more the exception than the norm; according to Fernandez, “The judo community in the country is small, allowing [the Blue Judokas] to be successful.”

But it would be difficult to deny how important training and coaching is to a team’s success, and how it is, perhaps, a buffer to missing out on potential recruits. This is why Top 2 finishers, UST and DLSU, invest in national level coaches.

Ateneo has seen several coaching crises the past few years, such as in Women’s Basketball and in Men’s Volleyball and Football. In this regard, the UAO policy of yearly contract renewals may help evaluate the coaches who deserve to stay.

Some teams such as badminton, basketball and track and field also had the benefit of going overseas for training. Being exposed to a high-level of competition outside the country helped these programs in terms of UAAP success.

But perhaps a fundamental problem of the school’s athletics program is the disparity of resources. While the track and field teams had the opportunity to travel abroad, they have lacklustre training facilities on campus. The Men’s Baseball team, on the other hand, had to chip in for baseballs to use.

This disparity can also be seen on the General Championship level where, there is a discrepancy of results between the teams that get to stand atop the podium and the teams that end up in the cellar. This inconsistency is the greatest hindrance to Ateneo’s being a contender in the overall race.

With Ateneo hosting the UAAP this coming school year, the UAO is quite optimistic about the school’s planned never-before-seen opening ceremonies as well as a possible 3rd place finish in the overall standing. This goal has already been set before though, with the Blue and White failing to exert a consistent effort on all fronts.

Without a drive for consistency, Team Ateneo’s presence in the closing ceremonies may once again be just a mere formality.