NCAA to stage special Mobile Legends tourney as S100 closer
The NCAA will be holding a special tournament featuring Mobile Legends: Bang Bang this coming June and July, just before the 'Grand Old League's' historic Season 100 comes to a close.
No less than NCAA management committee chairman and Lyceum of the Philippines representative Hercules Callanta– according to a report by Bea Micaller of GMA Integrated News– confirmed the development, with the official kickoff and first round robin scheduled on June 28 and 29.
The second round robin will be staged from July 12 to 13, while the finals round will be held offline and in person from July 25 to July 27 at the Philippine Game Development Expo (PGDX) at the SMX Convention Center.
Callanta clarified, however, that the esports tilt is NOT YET part of the NCAA calendar's regular lineup of events– thus making it a 'special tournament' – but emphasized that the league is open to the possibility of its inclusion moving forward.
"It's a special event. The aim is to highlight 'yung mga popular games in the Philippines that are not part of the calendar of events ng NCAA pero they're very popular," Callanta told GMA News Online on Monday.
He likewise said that the upcoming ML:BB games can be an avenue for the league to gauge how its 10 member schools perceive the event, and to look into the logistical needs should it be formally added to the lineup of sporting events in the future.
According to Micaller's report, 'this will not be the first time that NCAA schools are taking part in esports events.'
The Collegiate Center for Esports held a Mobile Legends tournament last in 2021, where the 10 NCAA member schools took part. It was an exciting participation for the NCAA representatives as some contingents featured varsity basketball players, such as Letran's Fran Yu and King Caralipio, San Beda's Damie Cuntapay and Yukien Andrada, Perpetual's Jasper Cuevas, and Mapúa's Warren Bonifacio.
During the 2021 games, LPU emerged on top and was crowned its inaugural champion.
Callanta reportedly said that participation in these pocket tournaments has helped the league in its pursuit of introducing esports this year, which will also likely include Valorant, a first-person hero shooter game, next year.
"Actually, through the efforts of Esports Philippines, for the past two or three years already, they conducted competitions in esports among the member schools of the NCAA so sanay na 'yung NCAA sa mga esports competitions kaya lang limited lang."
(From the report of Bea Micaller/GMA Integrated News)
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