With the UAAP basketball season almost over and volleyball action set late this year, the PBA’s 37th season kicking off in barely a month’s time, and provided that the NBA would come to terms with the best ballers in the world before the Oct. 9 deadline, for the meantime, DLSU have the La Salle Athletic League (LSAL)to look forward to.
The La Salle Athletic League is an annual sporting event organized by the La Salle Sports Commission (LSSC), a committee of students and resident alumni engaged in team sports. The league serves as a venue for students to showcase their athletic abilities, take pride in representing their respective colleges and forge a sense of camaraderie rooted from the common love for sports.
This season, LSAL will be adapting a new format wherein all the team sports, except for men’s basketball, will be played by college, instead of the batch format used in the previous years.
“We had to cancel out some games last year because some teams did not show up on their game days. We decided to adapt the college format so we could have a more competitive tournament and also maximize the league’s funds,” LSAL Commissioner Jio Henares shares.
Eyebrows were raised regarding the change of team dynamics in this year’s LSAL. Doubts and skepticism on whether the league would perform better this year with the new team dynamics set to replace the traditional one are present among LSAL players.
“They [LSSC] have a lot of work to do in terms of the game schedule and coming up with unbiased brackets,” IV BS-IE, Deniel Arc Paez shares.
“I would like to emphasize that the league has to win back the trust and confidence of the students, which they lost due to the issues and controversies they had in the past year,” former FOCUS08 point guard Ryan Cinco remarks.
“I know that we have a lot of things to work on and I am not out to promise anything, but rest assured we are going to do our best to assure a higher level of competition, better organization, and more developments as the season progress,” Henares confirms.
About plans of bringing back football in the list of LSAL sporting events, Henares claims that the acquisition of more time, funding and venue is needed.
As of press time, the league officials are working on the league’s inauguration this October. Registration and try-outs for basketball and volleyball are also in full swing.
A lot of drama, action, and a little bit of comedy from time to time at the Enrique Razon Sports Complex awaits this year’s LSAL players. DLSU just have to wait and see come October.
