ESPN5 covers the National Cheerleading Competition

ESPN5, the long-term collaboration between TV5 and ESPN, will present the exclusive live coverage of the National Cheerleading Competition (NCC) scheduled on Feb. 27 and March 1 to 2 at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena.

It will mark the very first time that the cheer and dance competition will be telecast live.

This year’s edition of the NCC covers the cheerleading, dance and drumline championships and will be held in three phases, namely the Cheer Camps non-competition events, the Regional Qualifiers in Bicol, Visayas, Mindanao and the National Capital Region and the Nationals final round.

Unlike the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), which covers only eight schools, or the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which has 12 member schools, the NCC covers a much bigger spectrum of participants. The biggest private school-based network in the Philippines, as multiple collegiate and HS organizations (UAAP, NCAA, WNCAA, etc) are all represented in the competition.

Last year, 150 schools consisting of over 3,500 athletes competed in the NCC’s dance, cheer and drumline competitions. This year promises to have a similar or even bigger number of participants in what promises to be a more exciting competition up ahead.

As part of its coverage, ESPN5 will have a live coverage of the National Dance and National Drumline Championships on Feb. 27 as well as the All-Girl Cheerleading Championships scheduled for March 1 and the Co-Ed Cheerleading Championships on March 2.

The events will be live streamed on ESPN5.com, while the March 1 and 2 events will start airing on Aksyon TV. There will also be a two-hour highlights episode on TV5 on March 3 from 2 to 4 p.m.

Vincent “Chot” Reyes, president and CEO of TV5, said that the extensive coverage of the National Cheerleading Competition is part of ESPN5’s efforts to give sports fans the broadest array of Philippine sports content.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with the National Cheerleading Championships to bring the sport of cheerleading to larger audience in the Philippines. Aligned with our thrust of super-serving the Filipino sports fan is the goal of providing all sports with a platform to help them reach and grow their audience. What better way to showcase the best our country has to offer than by showing local talent on ESPN5,” Reyes said.

Carlos Valdes III, president of the National Cheerleading Competition, expressed a similar sentiment, “We’re excited about this partnership with ESPN5, particularly now that cheerleading is recognized by the Olympics as a sport.”