THE huge decline in the cash prizes of the UAAP Cheerdance Competition 2018 was one of the hottest topics on social media on Saturday.
The UAAP cheerdance fans didn’t like the 85-percent decline in the cash prizes, prompting the topic to trend on Twitter while a lot of memes were made to blast the league.
Last year’s top prize of Php 340,000 went down to Php 50,000, which was earned by the NU PEP Squad. The silver medal finishers last year brought home Php 200,000 but this season’s 1st runner-up FEU Cheering Squad only got Php 30,000, while the Php 140,000 cash prize for the third place declined to Php 20,0000, which was taken by the Adamson PEP Squad.
UAAP Executive Director Atty. Rebo Saguisag released a statement explaining that it’s for the benefit of all schools not only for the top-three finishers.
“On substantive grounds, The Cheerdance Grant is supposedly for the benefit of the cheerdance programs of ALL the member-universities,” Saguisag wrote right after the competition. “A bigger chunk is now distributed among the eight member-schools instead of focusing on Top 3 finishers.”
A league official, who refused to be named, said that the Cheerdance competition is ‘too commercialized’ for a sport that is not part of the general standings and the UAAP also wanted to distribute the funds to other dance sports like ballroom and street dance.
Saguisag insisted that the UAAP is promoting that school pride should be the main motivation of the schools.
“It is likewise a move more consistent with the mission of the UAAP to promote amateur sports among the students of the member universities where the primary motivation is the pursuit ot school pride instead of monetary again,” he added.
“It is a reminder that in the UAAP, you do not always have to finish first, in order to WIN.”
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