Season 74 of the UAAP tips off in a couple of months, and once again all the attention and resources will be on the men’s basketball tournament. But while alumni boosters and sponsors literally pour in hundreds of millions of pesos into college basketball in the country, athletes from other sports have had to settle for scraps.

These include, unfortunately, the University of the Philippines Men’s Football Team, which was crowned champion of the UAAP football tournament in Season 73. I came across this letter on Facebook asking for help in order to supplement the team’s meager resources:

With fifteen (15) championship titles, several Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards and other honors under its belt, the University of the Philippines Men’s Football Varsity Team (UP Men’s Football Team) is one of the most successful football teams in the history of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP).

During the past decade, the team garnered four (4) championship titles and two (2) 2nd place finishes, including the 2010-2011 UAAP Championship. The team produced many past and present members of the Philippine National Team

Despite these achievements, the team does not have major sponsors. Oftentimes, team members are forced to fend for themselves due to lack of funds. The University of the Philippines, through UP Diliman’s College of Human Kinetics (CHK), does not receive adequate support from the national government to finance the operations of its varsity teams. Despite a general lack of basic training equipment and facilities (e.g., balls, vests, goal nets, markers, water to drink, etc.), it is amazing how the UP Men’s Football Team managed to stay on top.

As we continue to strive to bring honor and pride to our country’s national university, while promoting the values we learned from our sport, we would like to ask for your generous support during the 2011-2012 UAAP football season. Your donations will not only help us monetarily. It will also boost team morale as well.

Should you wish to give a monetary donation of any amount, you can arrange for the pickup of your pledges. If you are interested or have any questions, please contact Rafael T. Luna III at (63) 917-8635711 or e-mail him at rafael.lunaiii@yahoo.com.

We thank you in advance for your kindness and generosity.

Very truly yours,

NATHAN S. OCTAVIO
Team Captain
Mobile: (+63) 915 – 7420617

ANDRES CRISANTO GONZALES
Coach
Mobile: (+63) 915 – 9140740

You all know that I’m a basketball guy, but even I find it damn near scandalous how much more resources are allocated to hoops vis-à-vis most other sports combined. The problem is magnified in a state university such as UP, which is already constrained by a severe lack of resources in the first place.

Here’s a radical idea: Why can’t UP be the football university? I love the basketball team with all my heart, and I will continue to root for them whatever their record might be. But given the resources of the program compared to other schools in the league, the idea of UP becoming a perennial contender in basketball has about as much chance of happening as me engaging in a three-way with Solenn Heussaff and Lovi Poe.

But our football team’s already plenty good – so why don’t we just devote more resources into that? Why can’t we make it so the football team becomes a true juggernaut in the UAAP, the type of program that would rattle off five, six straight championships? Why can’t we put these players front and center in promoting the university’s sports program?

It will also help the sport of football because if UP decides to own it, then it’ll be a bigger deal; it’s already happened before, with the UP Pep Squad in the UAAP Cheerdance Competition. And for the UP community, which probably features a more diverse mix of students and alumni than any other university in the country, it will give us something common to stand for, to cheer for, and to be proud of. Together.