IT’S that time of the year again when basketball action briefly gives way to the highly-awaited UAAP Cheerdance Competition.
This year, National University will be going for a third straight championship while seven other teams try to play the spoilers’ role amid a festive atmosphere at the Mall of Asia Arena on Saturday.
University of Santo Tomas and University of the Philippines are the winningest teams with eight titles each in the 21-year history of the cheerdance competition, but NU has established itself as the team to beat this year.
Let's take a look at the competition in this eight-part series:
UE Pep Squad
University of the East is looking to dish out a flawless performance to entertain the audience and hopefully earn a spot in the podium.
“Ang goal po namin is a perfect routine, then maparamdam namin sa audience ang entertainment and fun and syempre a podium finish,” said UE team captain JP Santiago.
Last year, a rookie-laden UE Pep Squad finished seventh and Santiago believes they can do much better this time.
“Yes, nakakadagdag sa morale namin ’yung experience last year. Motivation sa team ‘yun na hindi na maulit ang nangyari sa amin last year,” Santiago said.
“We told ourselves na babawi kami for every opportunity that we have,” he added.
There aren’t too many competitions, but UE used each performance at Red Warriors games to get in fighting form.
“We didn’t treat ‘yung half time na half time lang, no. We used it para masanay kami mag perform sa harap ng maraming tao and para magkakumpyansa,” said Santiago, a graduating AB Broadcasting major.
“Every team nag-iimprove, kaya sa amin every day na hindi kami magtrain we give them the chance na higitan kami, lahat magaling kaya double time kami,” he said.
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