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UAAP fans take to Twitter following new eligibility rule

High school players from UAAP schools now face a two-year sitting out period if they transfer to another UAAP school. (NPPA Images)

Social media has once again provided a venue for sports fans to converge.

Hours after news broke out about the Universities Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Board approving a new controversial eligibility rule, the league’s fans, many of them expressing dismay, took to Twitter to voice out their opinion the rule.

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The new rule requires all athletes of a UAAP high school to sit out two years if he or she will enroll in another UAAP school for college. The previous rule, instituted in 2007 and labeled the Soc Rivera Rule in reference to the FEU juniors cager who bolted the Tamaraws camp to play for UP,  was only a one-year residency, which could be waived if the athlete’s original school will grant the athlete an unconditional release.

This allowed athletes like UP’s Paolo Romero, who played basketball for Ateneo in the juniors division, to suit up for the Maroons right away as a freshman in 2011.
 

What could make the new rule, which applies to all sports, a bigger dampener for those planning to transfer is that waiving the residency period via a release is reportedly no longer allowed.

The rule, approved by the Board during their monthly meeting, will immediately take effect and will apply to all incoming freshmen-athletes. This includes FEU juniors star Jerie Pingoy, who is being ardently pursued by five-time champion Ateneo but now faces a tough decision of either sitting out for two years or staying put in FEU.

Understandably, the rule did not sit well with some tweeps. UP point guard Mikee Reyes raised a point about its effect on those athletes who aren't exactly stars and are not heavily recruited, not even by their college team.

 


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After venting their frustrations, some fans, including Ateneo star Kiefer Ravena and former teammate Nico Salva, started offering their own tongue-in-cheek rules to underscore what they felt was the absurdity of the new eligibility rule. The hashtag #NewUAAPRule trended locally as more and more tweeps joined the fun. Some notable tweets: