Chaelee Yan: September 2009

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) and Far Eastern University (2), which is the current defending champion.^[1] Since 2003, only University of Santo Tomas, University of the Philippines, Far Eastern University, Ateneo de Manila University have landed on the top 3 spots. Since 1995, only the University of the Philippines has never failed to land in the top 3 spots. FEU did not make it to the top three in 2002, and UST in 2009.

The 2008 Samsung UAAP Cheerdance Competition is 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 Blazing Pep 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.^[2]

Basic Rules

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

Performance

Routines must have:
- School cheer yelled live
- Dance techniques, variety of formations, synchronization with music and cheers
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)
Maximum of 7 snares and 12 bass drums
Routine should be between 4-5 minutes long
Cheerleaders may not perform outside the boundary line of 15x20 meters performance area

Judges

Panel of judges
- 8 from each member-university
- 1 from reputable cheerleading dance/gymnastics organization
2 line judges (from the host university)
1 head judge for deduction and tabulation (from the host university) who will act as chairperson and arbitrator of the panel but will not judge any team's performance.

Criteria

Point-system
- 5 points each: Dance Technique, Jumps, Tumbling, Tosses
- 10 points each: Lifts/Stunts, Pyramids, Degree of Difficulty, Formations, Choreography, Synchronization, Audibility/Clarity, Overall Effectiveness
Highest and lowest score canceled
Average of seven remaining scores less deduction
Tie-break is by counting the highest number of first place marks from the majority of the judges

Major Sponsor	Competition Name	Year(s)
Jollibee	*Jollibee Chi-Cheer Kayo* Challenge**	1994-1996
Nestlé Ice Cream	Nestlé Crunch Ice Cream Cheering Competition^[3]	1998-1999
Nestlé Non-Stop Cheerdance Competition	2000-2005
Samsung	Samsung UAAP Cheerdance Competition	2007-2009

[edit] Competition results

Host School in Boldface

Year	Champion	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th
1994	UST^[3]^[4]	DLSU^[4]	?	?	?	?	?	?
1995	UST ^[3]^[4]	DLSU^[4]	UP	?	?	?	?	?
1996	UST^[3]^[4]	UP^[4]	DLSU^[4]	?	?	?	?	?
1997	The competition was suspended for a year.[a]
1998[b]	FEU^[5]	DLSU	UP	?	?	?	?	-
1999	UP^[6]	UST^[3]	FEU	?	?	?	?	?
2000	UP^[6]	UST	FEU	?	?	?	?	?
2001	UP^[6] 81.22	AdU 77.11	UST^[7] 76.32	?	?	?	?	?
2002	UST^[8]^[7] 87.38^[7]	UE^[7] 84.88^[7]	UP^[7] 84.00^[7]	FEU 80.70	ADMU 78.60	AdU 78.60	DLSU 71.50	NU 64.50
2003	UST^[8]^[9] 89.50	UP^[9] 88.16	FEU^[9] 88.00	ADMU 83.16	UE 78.50	AdU 72.60	DLSU 69.60	NU 61.80
2004	UST^[8]^[9] 93.61	UP^[9] 90.56	FEU^[9] 87.09	ADMU 85.79	DLSU 84.97	AdU 84.76	UE 79.52	NU 68.44
2005	UST^[8]^[9] 90.98^[10]	UP^[9] 90.76^[10]	FEU^[9] 88.72^[10]	DLSU 76.37	UE 76.15	AdU 76.09	ADMU 69.33	NU 64.48
2006[c]	UST^[8]^[11] 94.96^[11]	FEU^[11] 93.20^[11]	UP^[11] 91.70^[11]	AdU ?	ADMU ?	UE ?	NU ?	-
2007	UP^[8]^[12] 92.66^[12]	UST^[12] 92.16^[12]	FEU^[12] 91.66^[12]	ADMU^[12] 90.63	AdU^[12] 90.62	UE^[12] 90.55	DLSU^[12] 89.54	NU^[12] 84.23
2008	UP^[8]^[13] 93.30^[13]	UST^[8]^[13] 85.03^[13]	FEU^[8]^[13] 83.96^[13]	ADMU^[8] 83.81	AdU^[8] 81.04	UE^[8] 72.69	DLSU^[8] 70.07	NU^[8] 68.36
2009	FEU 86.10^[14]	ADMU 83.40^[14]	UP 83.10^[14]	UST 81.00^[14]

Championships per University

School	Total	Last C'Ship
University of Santo Tomas	8	2006
University of the Philippines	5	2008
Far Eastern University	2	2009

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.^[15]

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[a]	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

Note:

Note a: - New point-system was introduced, where every element of the cheerdance corresponds to predetermined points.

[edit] UP - UST rivalry

University of the Philippines

University of Santo Tomas

Being the only teams in the UAAP to actually win the competition where all UAAP-member schools are present to compete prior to 2009 (won by FEU), the University of the Philippines and the University of Santo Tomas were caught in a rivalry through its official cheerdance teams: the UP Pep Squad and the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe.

[edit] 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. Interestingly, FEU took the title in 2009 after finishing 3rd the previous year.

UP is the only team to always make it to the top three since 1995, because it failed to place back in 1994.

Chronology of events

The UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe won the first three years of competition from 1994 to 1996^[3]. 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^[12] and defended it in 2008 with the highest score gap between the champion and 1st runner-up in the history of the competition. In 2009 the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe failed to make it to the top 3 for the first time, leaving UP as the only team to always be in the top 3 since 1995.

[edit] 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.

Firsts in the competition

Official Uniforms - In 1998, the UP Pep Squad used pants for both boys and girls as their cheerdance uniform.^[16] In 2001, the UP Pep Squad was the first to use a one-piece body suit (for females) in the competition. Later in 2003, they also first used shorts as uniform for both boys and girls. In 2004, the UP Pep Squad was the first to use 2 different uniforms in one routine.
Canned Music - In 2000, the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe used canned music, an alternate to traditional drums and snares, in their cheerdance routine.
Unified Theme - In 2002, the Ateneo Blue Babble Battalion and the UE Pep Squad were the first to incorporate a unified theme all throughout the routine.
Sound Effects - In 2002, the Ateneo Blue Babble Battalion, the DLSU Pep Squad, and the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe used special effects or sound compliments.
Transition Techniques - In 2007, both the UP Pep Squad and UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe replaced jogging with marching steps in between transitions of their respective routines.
Three Dimensional Pyramid - In 2008, the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe introduced the Chinaman Pyramid, a four-layered 3D pyramid formed during the finale of their routine.
Special Performance - In 2008, A Samsung All-Star routine was presented before the announcement of the winners. An all-star team, called the "Dream Team", was composed of 3 members from each of the participating universities in the said competition.
Special Award - In 2008, the sponsor of the competition awarded the "Samsung Stunner" to Frances Fleta of the UP Pep Squad.

Campaign slogans and themes

Ateneo de Manila University
1. Wild Wild West theme (2002) - The squad sported a cowboy look.

De La Salle University
1. Military theme (2005)
2. Futuristic theme (2008)

Far Eastern University
1. Blazing Tamaraws theme (2008)

University of the East
1. Extreme Sports theme (2002) - The squad incorporated extreme games in their routine.

University of the Philippines
1. Back 2 Back (2000) for their bid to defend their title. They used plain maroon for the front and plain green for the back of their uniform.
2. Go for Four (2002) for their bid to win their fourth consecutive championship.
3. UP's Back (2003) in an attempt to regain the championship.
4. UP Rocks (2007) with Gothic rock-themed^[12] costumes and music.
5. Tribo UP: Sugod (2008) for their defending routine theme with tribal music, cheers, costume, and movement.
6. UP Life (2009) for their bid for another grand slam with use of props depicting the culture of UP.

University of Santo Tomas
1. The Real Champions are Back (2002) for their bid to regain the title.
2. Back 2 Back (2003) for their bid to have a back-to-back title.
3. Balik sa Naka-GAWI-an: Three-Peat for UST (2004) for their bid to have another three-peat.
4. Roar 4 More (2005) for their bid to have an unprecedented four-peat.
5. Jive for Five (2006) for their bid to have an unprecedented five-peat.
6. Tuloy ang Naka-GAWI-an: UST, This SIXTH It! (2007) for their bid to snatch a double grand-slam.
7. One for UST -Excalibur theme (2009)