The La Salle Sports Commission (LSSC) overhauled the La Salle Athletic League (LSAL) following the controversial discontinuation of the league’s games last year. This year, the LSSC has introduced changes and features to the traditional University-wide league.
System change
LSSC Commissioner Benedict Lopez explains that the commission has tapped the assistance of the Office of Sports Development (OSD), the University Student Government (USG) and the Council of Student Organizations (CSO). He follows, “Last year, the teams were made by batches and colleges, but this year with the help of CSO, USG and OSD, the teams may be composed by players from different batches and colleges. We did this system to have more participants.” The response of the participants has, so far, been positive.
The current league has 63 basketball teams.
OSD Athletic Services Coordinator Alexander Depante Jr. shars that CSO played a big role in averting last year’s problem to resurface. “The problem last year was that aside from LSAL, other orgs are using the sports facilities. This has made it difficult for organizers to schedule the games. Hence, this year, the student organizations under CSO aligned its sports activities on the LSAL, which made it bigger than ever before,” he said.
Problems in the past
The lack of available sports facilities proved to be a huge challenge in last year’s games. Lopez, a player last year, is aware of the issues that occurred. He explained, “Honestly, it’s hard to schedule games even though LSAL has courts A and B every Friday and Saturday. The league still needs to consider varsity trainings, PE and other activities from the administration. Last year was much harder because they don’t have courts every Friday, and Wednesdays there are PE and varsity trainings.”
With the new system in place, Lopez is confident that LSAL will finish on time.
Groundbreaking features
Aside from the basketball tournament, an inaugural LSAL All-Star game was held. The game featured the best of the league’s players playing alongside the DLSU Green Archers. More than that, the LSSC bannered a charitable cause by holding the I LOVE ENZOE: Fight Against Cancer three-point shootout that pitted the best three-point shooters in the University.
In addition, LSAL also had a football tournament hosted at The Turf in Bonifacio Global City last November. Eight teams participated in the two-day football festival.
The players’ verdict
Majority of the participants in this year’s LSAL, most of whom joined the league in its prior editions, are pleased with the changes in the league. The change in the system paved the way for a relatively organized manner of execution for both organizers and participants. An anonymous ID 110 participant was quite happy to see that Froshies were encouraged the join in.
A participant from RVR-COB commended LSSC’s organization and publicity endeavors. Many also believe that LSAL should mainly cater to the students, and this year, the commission did just that.
For others, however, the games were cut a little too short. “The time allotted for this year’s LSAL was a bit short,” says an ID 110 player from CLA. Another participant added that intervals between games seemed too long, and that a consistent succession would be ideal.
Many players where were satisfied with the organization, publicity, improved system, diversity of teams and participants, proper scheduling and the like. A handful were already quite happy with just getting their jerseys—a concern raised by many participants in last year’s LSAL when multiple jerseys were not handed out.
Others were pleased with the additional events that took place such as the All-Stars 2012 game that gave the players a chance to compete with the varsity.
