University Athletic Association of the Philippines


The University Athletic Association of the Philippines, established in 1938, is an athletic association of eight Metro Manila universities in the Philippines. The eight-member schools are Adamson University, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, Far Eastern University, National University, University of the East, University of the Philippines Diliman, and the University of Santo Tomas.
Varsity teams from these universities compete annually in the league's 19 sports categories to vie for the overall championship title, namely, 3x3 basketball, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, beach volleyball, cheerdance, chess, esports, fencing, football, judo, softball, street dance, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo kyorugi & poomsae, tennis, and volleyball.

History

In 1924, seeing the need to organize collegiate sports and set general athletic policies, Dr. Regino Ylanan met with representatives of Ateneo de Manila, De La Salle College, San Beda College, National University, University of Manila, University of Santo Tomas, and Institute of Accounts to discuss possibilities of forming an athletic organization, which eventually became the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
In 1930, the University of the Philippines sponsored an experimental meet of the "Big 3" of the league on basketball, football, baseball, volleyball, swimming, athletics, boxing, and tennis.
The following year, the NCAA Board of Directors divided the meet into three divisions to put competition on a fairer basis and to stimulate athletics among a greater number.
In March 1932, NU, UP, and UST formally seceded from the NCAA. Led by UP's Candido C. Bartolome, NU's Leon Tirol and UST's Fr. Silvestre Sancho, OP, the move was made to put competitions on equal footing, to increase amateur athletic competitions and to separate the universities from the college members of the league. On April 6, the "Big 3 League" was born. On August 14, the "Big 3" Association was inaugurated with a meet that starts with basketball. Other events were baseball, football, volleyball, relays, athletics, swimming and tennis.
In 1935, UP did not participate in the "Big 3 League" because of mass intramurals at the state university. NU and UST held the meet with FEU taking UP's place.
On September 27, 1938, the University of the Philippines Alumni Association and the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation, then the highest sports body in the country, encouraged the original "Big 3 League" and FEU to form a permanent sports association, thus the University Athletic Association of the Philippines was established. Events included were basketball, baseball, football, women's volleyball, swimming and athletics. UP bagged three titles. UST topped in football and swimming and FEU triumphed in basketball.
In 1941, the outbreak of World War II hindered the staging of the 1941–42 UAAP with UST failing to complete its term. The UAAP competition was not held from 1942 to 1946 due to the Japanese occupation of the country which resulted in the closure of educational institutions. The UAAP competition resumed in 1947.
In 1952, University of the East, Adamson University, Manila Central University, and University of Manila were granted two-year probationary membership to the UAAP. After the two-year probationary period, UE and MCU were accepted as regular members in 1954. MCU remained until its pull-out in 1962. The other two universities were dropped from the UAAP due to their inability to comply with league requirements.
In 1970, Adamson University reapplied for admission to the league with a two-year probationary period and in 1974, Adamson successfully hosted the 1974–75 athletic season, paving the way for its permanent membership into the league.
In 1978, the UAAP admitted Ateneo de Manila University into the league while De La Salle University joined in 1986.
In 2020, the 2019–20 competition was initially intended to end in May that year. However, the competition abruptly ended early in April due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the ongoing pandemic, the planned 2020–21 tournament was cancelled, the first in peacetime. The league resumed the tournament on March 26, 2022 with its 84th season.
On August 20, 2024, the UAAP announced a proposal for a new 6,000-capacity indoor arena tentatively named the "Home of the UAAP". The proposed venue would be located in Pasig and is planned to open in 2027, in time for the association's 90th season. The arena will be constructed on a 1.8-hectare site across from the Bridgetowne estate, in partnership with Akari Lighting & Technology Corporation. Groundbreaking for the arena commenced on October 24, 2025. The planned seating capacity was also increased to over 8,000, and the arena will also be open to other leagues such as the PBA, PVL, and NCAA.

Logo

The previous UAAP logo features the university colors of the eight member-schools of the league in a circular formation. It also bears the year when the league was established, 1938, in the center.
The seal changes every season where the university colors of the season host is placed on the very top. Nonetheless, the arrangement of the colors never changes.
The colors of the National University, Far Eastern University, University of Santo Tomas, and the University of the Philippines, come first counter-clockwise. These are followed by the colors of the University of the East, Adamson University, De La Salle University, and the Ateneo de Manila University. The arrangement of the school colors is based from their admission in the UAAP.
Prior to the start of UAAP Season 84 in March 2022, the league unveiled its new logo on December 17, 2021. The new logo was inspired by the Philippine traditional native sport sipa. Though the school colors arrangement was followed in reverse Season 84, the arrangement of school colors still changes every season beginning with Season 85. The host school's colors is placed at the topmost "sipa" streak.

Member schools

The following are the member schools of the league:

Guest schools

Since UAAP Season 87, the league has signed memorandums of agreement for notable high school programs to join various events as guest teams. The Southridge Admirals have participated in three events since 2025, namely boys' football, swimming, and baseball, while the Claret Red Roosters rounded out the participating schools in boys' football.
In November 2025, the UAAP announced the inclusion of PAREF Southridge School as a guest team for the boys' swimming, baseball, and football tournaments.

Membership timeline

Sports

Member universities compete in 19 sports. Basketball, being the most popular sport in the Philippines, is the most watched and most supported among all the sports. Volleyball and cheerdance are also equally considered marquee events in the UAAP due to growing respective fanbases and media coverage in the country.
All of these sports have Men's and Women's divisions, with the exception of baseball, in which only men participate, and softball, which is for women only. The following sports have a high school division, in which the associated high schools of the universities participate: volleyball, table tennis, chess, swimming, fencing, and athletics have Boys' and Girls' divisions. Meanwhile, baseball and football have a Boys' division only. Basketball staged Girls' division competitions starting Season 82 albeit as demo sport only. Junior High School Basketball was introduced as a demo sport in Season 86. Esports is the latest sport added by the league and was introduced in Season 87. Rapid and Blitz Chess were also introduced as demonstration sports in Season 87.

Sports calendar

Beginning with Season 78 in 2015, the league shifted its sports schedule start from July to September because of the change in the academic calendars of most of its member universities. By 2024, the calendar shifted to start by August with the debut of esports in Season 87.

First semester sports (August–December)

Adamson–Ateneo rivalry

The Adamson Soaring Falcons and the Ateneo Blue Eagles did not have a well-known rivalry, but Adamson ended a 13-year, 29-match losing streak against Ateneo in the UAAP Season 74 basketball tournaments when they defeated Ateneo in the last game of the elimination round and denied the Blue Eagles of a thrice-to-beat advantage in the semifinals. Their rivalry, also referred to as the "Battle of the Birds", began in 2010 when they met in the finals of the Philippine Collegiate Championship League, a year before Adamson denied Ateneo a sweep of the elimination rounds of the UAAP Season 74 men's basketball tournament.
While Adamson and Ateneo's UAAP men's basketball rivalry was rekindled by their semifinal matchup in UAAP Season 85, both notably competed in the playoffs of women's volleyball in UAAP Seasons 75, 76 and 84, with Ateneo prevailing in all mentioned matchups and, in the latter case, ousting Adamson from contention for the Final Four round. In 2023, however, Adamson pulled off an upset by defeating the defending champions, Ateneo, during their matchup in the first round of the eliminations, before facing off against each other in the fourth seed playoff. Ateneo eventually prevailed in the do-or-die playoff to extend their UAAP men's basketball semifinals appearance streak to its ninth season. In 2024, Adamson eliminated eighth-seeded Ateneo during the latter's weakest tournament performance since clinching the first ever season sweep in the Final Four era of UAAP men's basketball in 2019 to force their third consecutive do-or-die playoff for the fourth seed against University of the East, which it eventually won for its recent UAAP men's basketball semifinals appearance.