The New UAAP MVP Ruling Is A Head-Scratcher
If I’m being honest, this should be a festive time for Pinoy hoops fans. Mac McClung jumped over a Kia, Naveen Ganglani got to meet Shams Charania, and two cheaters got the justice they deserved.
All-Star Weekend was fun, so we should have our head in the clouds, right?
Not so fast. Days before Victor Wembanyama played the role of accomplice in a San Francisco heist, a startling piece of news jolted our local shores.
If I’m being honest, the introduction of the UAAP Best Foreign Student-Athlete is living inside my head rent-free.
No paraphrasing here, folks: I’d like the words of UAAP Executive Director Rebo Saguisag to speak for themselves. (Credit to Tiebreaker Times and ABS-CBN News for the transcript of Saguisag’s comments.)
“The Best Foreign Student-Athlete award will be given across all UAAP sports but only if a foreign student-athlete finishes as the leader in events where statistical points are available,” said Atty. Saguisag at the Season 87 Collegiate Volleyball press conference last Feb. 12 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
“In that case, they will receive the Best Foreign Student-Athlete award, while the highest-ranking local player in the statistical race will be recognized as the Most Valuable Player,” Saguisag clarified.
So why would the league break its decades-long tradition of making all athletes eligible for the MVP award? Attorney, the floor is yours again.
“The rationale is because of the growing presence—and some deem it the dominance—of the foreign student-athletes,” said Saguisag. “The idea of the UAAP is somehow to both recognize local and international talent, as a matter of equity.”
I can’t believe I’m about to say this. But somebody’s got to do it. So yeah: Objection, your honor.
How can we justify the exclusion of foreign student-athletes from MVP consideration on the basis of their “growing presence” or “dominance” in the UAAP? The last time I checked, sports tournaments and leagues hand out MVP awards to competitors who have produced the finest individual numbers and contributed substantially to their teams’ winning ways.
Why should a UAAP athlete’s citizenship hinder them from bagging the MVP award? I’m having trouble coming up with a logical answer.
UAAP | WATCH:
— Rappler Sports (@RapplerSports) December 19, 2022
One of the greatest foreign-student athletes of all time. So good, we Filipinos made him one of ours.
Ateneo's MVP Ange Kouame leads the Song for Mary alongside fellow graduating standouts Dave Ildefonso and BJ Andrade!
Congratulations!#UAAPSeason85Finals pic.twitter.com/qYKWCi5KMN
If I’m being honest, the phrase “only if” in the Executive Director’s discourse is sticking out like a sore thumb that failed to catch a Spalding correctly. In a genuinely merit-based sports league, any given student-athlete should be kept from getting MVP recognition only if they fail to outperform their competitors in terms of statistics and wins.
I understand that I might be too legalistic in my opposition to this ruling. Fine, let’s talk about the spirit of the law—what the ruling is really trying to convey between the lines.
Perhaps the differentiation between MVP and Best Foreign Student-Athlete is meant to ensure that local athletes will command the spotlight and prestige on a yearly basis. While I am firmly behind the rise of Pinoy talents at the collegiate level, I am also well aware that non-Filipino athletes have long been welcomed—and are still welcome—to compete in the UAAP.
I mean, we did invite them to play with us, right?
I know, the athletes know, and the UAAP board certainly knows how an MVP award works. It’s a supreme accomplishment meant to laud the physical and mental effort of the top-performing competitor. What, then, would the existence of the Best Foreign Student-Athlete award do to the psyche of non-Filipino competitors who left family and home soil behind to perform at their highest level in the UAAP?
If you don’t believe that the new MVP guidelines will have a psychological impact on foreign student-athletes, read Ernest Tuazon’s eyewitness account of the moment NUNS behemoth Collins Akowe found out about the ruling. According to Tuazon, the 6-foot-10 senior from Nigeria “lowered his head in disappointment” after being informed that the rule tweaks would be implemented this season.
“I’ll give you my honest truth. I really don’t know what to say because I’m speechless,” said Akowe. “I never saw this coming. If they had told us before the start of the season, it would have been a different scenario.”
If Akowe ends up dominating key statistical categories in the Season 87 boys’ basketball tournament, it would simply be bizarre to deny him the MVP award because of the arbitrary reason that a Filipino has to win that accolade. If a Filipino wants to win MVP at Akowe’s expense, shouldn’t they work on elevating their game so they can surpass his numbers? Wouldn’t that insane competitive drive push our Pinoy athletes to levels of excellence that they didn’t know they had?
That, after all, should be the defining trait of any sporting event: an equal opportunity for any participating player to bring the finest version of themselves and to win the top award. You want to be recognized as the best? Be the best.
Alas, I am but a writer thinking out loud. Unless driving forces within the UAAP board move for this ruling to be revisited, the delineation between MVP and Best Foreign Student-Athlete will take effect in the current season, no matter what any fan, analyst, or athlete feels about it.
So I might as well go back to watching All-Star highlights. Look at Chris Paul getting disqualified!
What do you think? Do you find the UAAP MVP ruling a head-scratcher, or are you cool with its implementation? Let us know your thoughts by joining the ALL-STAR conversation on Facebook and Instagram!
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