UAAP CHEERDANCE COMPETITION

UAAP Cheerdance Competition

Sport	Cheerleading
Founded	1994
No. of teams	8
Country(ies)	Philippines
Most recent champion(s)	FEU Cheering Squad
TV partner(s)	Studio 23

The annual UAAP Cheerdance Competition (CDC) is held at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Philippines

The UAAP Cheerdance Competition is an annual one-day event of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines for cheerleading. However, it does not count in the tabulation to determine the UAAP Overall Championship.

Studio 23 received the right to televise the UAAP Men's Basketball. Along with it came the coverage rights of the annual UAAP Cheerdance Competition. The hosts of the event usually start with an audience roll call. After each participating university's name is called, the audience from that school chants their most popular cheer along with their official drummers. However, the dancers of their respective pep squads are not yet shown to the audience and televiewers until their performance. The sequence of the roll call are random and solely the discretion of the hosts or producers. The sequence of the performance are determined by drawing of lots prior the competition.^{[citation needed]}

Since 2006, side-court reporters of each participating universities join the main host of the event. Before the announcement of winners and after all squads have performed, a recap is shown during the telecast. Only the champion and first and second runners-up are announced at the end of the competition. Except in 2008, the host(s) reveal the average scores before announcing the winners.

University of Santo Tomas has the most championships (8) followed by University of the Philippines (5). Far Eastern University is the current defending champion.^[1] From 2003 to 2008, only University of Santo Tomas, University of the Philippines, and Far Eastern University have landed on the top 3 spots. The University of Santo Tomas did not make it in the top 3 for the first time in 2009.

The 2008 Samsung UAAP Cheerdance Competition was the most attended UAAP event with a record-breaking 23,443 paying audience.

Participants

School	Cheerdance Team
Adamson University (AdU)	Adamson Pep Squad
Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU)	Ateneo Blue Babble Battalion
De La Salle University (DLSU)	DLSU Animo Squad (DLSU Pep Squad: 1994-2007)
Far Eastern University (FEU)	FEU Cheering Squad
National University (NU)	NU Pep Squad
University of the East (UE)	UE Pep Squad
University of the Philippines (UP)	UP Pep Squad (Filipiniana Dance Troupe: 1994-1996)
University of Santo Tomas (UST)	UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe (with the UST Yellow Jackets)

Rules

The competition rules has been revised through the years since it began. The following is based on the most recent rules drafted in 2008.

Basic Rules

1. One official team per UAAP-member university
2. 15-25 UAAP-eligible students
3. Max of 5 spotters/propsmen, in all-black garb
4. Up to 2 substitutes 12 hours before the competition
5. No interaction between members of the panel judges and participants, coaches and spectators
6. No abusive and profane language
7. No inappropriate and disrespectful action

Performance

1. Routines must have:
   • School cheer yelled live
   • Dance techniques, variety of formations, synchronization with music and cheers
2. To count, 50% of the squad must perform:
   • Min 3 jumps/leaps
   • Min 3 lifts/stunts
   • Toss
   • Gymnastics/tumbling
   • Min 3 pyramids (Max 2.5 high)
3. Maximum of 7 snares and 12 bass drums
4. Routine should be between 4–5 minutes long
5. Cheerleaders may not perform outside the boundary line of 15x20 meters performance area

Judges

In 2009, UAAP replaced the panel of judges with representatives from various cheerleading, dance, and gymnastics organizations. Prior 2009, the panel of judges compose of representative from 8 UAAP-member schools and a representative from a credible gymnastics organizations. The following are the judges for 2009:

• Dr. Sylvia M. Chua, President/Founder of Cheerleading Association of the Philippines
• Douglas Nierras, Artistic Director of Powerdance
• Evan Alva, President of Pilipinas Cheerleading Federation
• Joy Garcia Valenton, (National Judge) Gymnastics Association of the Philippines
• Ai Hesagawa, (International Judge) Federation of Japan Cheerleading Association

Criteria

1. Point-system (introduced in 2008)
   • 5 points each: Dance Technique, Jumps, Tumbling, Tosses
   • 10 points each: Lifts/Stunts, Pyramids, Degree of Difficulty, Formations, Choreography, Synchronization, Audibility/Clarity, Overall Effectiveness
   • 1 point deduction for every minor error; up to 5 points deduction for every major error
2. Average of scores less deduction
3. Tie-break is by counting the highest number of first place marks from the majority of the judges

Sponsors

Major Sponsor	Competition Name	Year(s)
Jollibee	Jollibee Chi-Cheer Kayo Challenge	1994-1996
Nestlé Ice Cream	Nestlé Crunch Ice Cream Cheering Competition[4]	1998-1999
	Nestlé Non-Stop Cheerdance Competition	2000-2005
Samsung	Samsung UAAP Cheerdance Competition	2007-2009

Top Three

Year	Champion	2nd	3rd
1994	UST[4][5]	DLSU[5]	FEU
1995	UST [4][5]	DLSU[5]	UP
1996	UST[4][5]	UP[5]	DLSU[5]
1997	The competition was suspended for a year.[a]
1998[b]	FEU[6]	DLSU	UP
1999	UP[7]	UST[4]	FEU
2000	UP[7]	UST	FEU
2001	UP[7] 81.22	AdU 77.11	UST[8] 76.32
2002	UST[8][9] 87.38[8]	UE[8] 84.88[8]	UP[8] 84.00[8]
2003	UST[9][10] 89.50	UP[10] 88.16	FEU[10] 88.00
2004	UST[9][10] 93.61	UP[10] 90.56	FEU[10] 87.09
2005	UST[9][10] 90.98[11]	UP[10] 90.76[11]	FEU[10] 88.72[11]
2006[c]	UST[9][12] 94.96[12]	FEU[12] 93.20[12]	UP[12] 91.70[12]
2007	UP[9][13] 92.66[13]	UST[13] 92.16[13]	FEU[13] 91.66[13]
2008	UP[9][14] 93.30[14]	UST[9][14] 85.03[14]	FEU[9][14] 83.96[14]
2009	FEU[15] 86.10[15]	ADMU[15] 83.40[15]	UP[15] 83.10[15]

Notes:

• Note a: - The UAAP Board suspended the competition when a member from the UP Filipiniana figured in an accident during practice.
• Note b: - In 1998, UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe did not join the competition.
• Note c: - De La Salle University was suspended in 2006 and was not allowed to join the competition.^[16]

School	Last Championship	Top 1	Top 2	Top 3	Total
University of Santo Tomas	2006	8	4	1	13
University of the Philippines	2008	5	4	5	14
Far Eastern University	2009	2	1	8	11
De La Salle University	-	-	3	1	4
Ateneo de Manila University	-	-	1	-	1
Adamson University	-	-	1	-	1
University of the East	-	-	1	-	1
National University	-	-	-	-	-

Top 10 Recorded Scores

School	Year	Score
University of Santo Tomas	2006	94.96
University of Santo Tomas	2004	93.61
University of the Philippines	2008	93.30
Far Eastern University	2006	93.20
University of the Philippines	2007	92.66
University of Santo Tomas	2007	92.16
University of the Philippines	2006	91.70
Far Eastern University	2007	91.66
University of Santo Tomas	2005	90.98
University of the Philippines	2005	90.76

UP - UST rivalry

University of the Philippines

UST

Being the top two teams to win the most number of championship titles in the competition, the University of the Philippines and the University of Santo Tomas were caught in a rivalry through their official cheerdance teams: the UP Pep Squad and the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe.

Head-to-head status

The UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe has the most number of wins, with eight (8) championships followed by the UP Pep Squad with five (5). UST holds the most consecutive victories at five (5), which they achieved from 2002 to 2006. The highest score recorded in the competition was 94.96 by UST in 2006, followed by 93.61 also by UST in 2004. UP's highest score was 93.30 in 2008, when a new point-system was introduced. The largest point differential between the two teams is 8.03 by UP in 2008, followed by 4.90 also by UP in 2001. UST's largest lead over UP was 3.38 in 2002, when UP finished 3rd.

Both UP and UST broke their rival's streak after landing on the third spot. In 1999, UP won the title after being placed in third in 1998. UST was able to regain the title in 2002 after being a third placer in 2001. UP again took the championship title in 2007 after finishing third in 2006.

Chronology of events

The UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe won the first three years of competition from 1994 to 1996^[4]. They did not compete in the 1998 season and instead joined the 1st Lipton Cheering Cup Competition. The rivalry between the two squads began in 1999 when UST returned to reclaim the title after their year of absence. However, they only finished second behind UP Pep Squad. In 2001, UP Pep Squad matched the record of UST's three consecutive wins. In 2002, UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe regained the title while UP Pep Squad finished third. The next three years had UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe in first place and UP Pep Squad as runner-up. In 2006, UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe received their eighth title via five consecutive victories with the highest recorded score in the history of the competition; UP Pep Squad finished third. UP Pep Squad regained the title in 2007^[13] and defended it in 2008.

Popular cheers

UP's popular cheer is "Unibersidad ng Pilipinas" while UST's is "Go USTe!". Usually held in Araneta Coliseum, the UP crowd clap hands over their head while chanting their cheer, while the UST crowd waves either their yellow hotdog balloons or their raised right pointing finger in circular clockwise motion while cheering.