by: Jiro Victor Antolin & Rae Cza Gonatice
Photos by: Rae Cza Gonatice
The Urdaneta City Private Schools Athletic Meet (UCPSAM) is just one of the events that everyone anticipates, especially the students and athletes of International Colleges for Excellence, Inc. (ICE). As the athletes prepare to bring the heat back with just a few days of training, everyone knows that they are as ecstatic as ever.
Tryouts for the UCPSAM started on October 3, 2024, following the week of the Junior High School’s Periodical Exams. The training span is less than a week, excluding Saturday and Sunday. To build a team of tournament-ready athletes, training is scheduled from 1 PM to 5 PM, excusing student-athletes from their afternoon classes. In addition to the long-awaited sports, this year’s UCPSAM is notably different from last year, with the addition of the Mr. & Ms. UCPSAM competition.
The Mr. & Ms. UCPSAM pageant used to be included in the lineup of competitions, but it was not held last year. This year, the committee decided to include the pageant to select candidates from private schools to represent the Schools Division Office of Urdaneta City during the Region 1 Athletic Association (R1AA) Meet next year, as it has traditionally been public schools representing our division.
With nine schools participating—specifically Divine Word College of Urdaneta, Inc. (DWCU), International Colleges for Excellence, Inc. (ICE), Luzon College of Science and Technology (LCST), Maranatha Christian Academy (MCA), Lyceum Northern Luzon (LNL), Lyceum-Northwestern University (LNU), Merryland Montessori and High School, Inc. (MMHSI), Mother Goose Special School System, Inc. (MGSSSI), and St. Andrew Montessori and High School, Inc. (SAMHSI)—the candidates will showcase their charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent on stage as they present their runway packages on the second day of UCPSAM, October 11, 2024, at the gymnasium of DWCU at 1 PM.
With the tryouts and training coming to a halt on October 9th, the school organized a “Send-Off Party” for the athletes competing in the UCPSAM. Engr. Francis Marvin I. Lim delivered the opening remarks and led the prayer for the athletes, while Ma’am April Joy I. Lim-Josef closed the program with the quote, “Meron lahat kayong skills, equal kayo doon. But sometimes, it’s the heart that decides kung sino talaga ang mananalo.”
After that heartwarming message, the roaring shouts and cheers of the new ICE Pep Squad filled the ICE Covered Court as they worked to build an organized cheering squad for the opening of the UCPSAM. The opening program will take place at the open grounds of Divine Word College of Urdaneta at 7:30 in the morning. On that day, classes will be canceled for the Senior High School Department, as the school aims to bring the wave of the ICEans to support their athlete schoolmates. A wall of written notes was also dedicated to the athletes, wishing the ICEan Warriors good luck, and is displayed outside the SHS faculty.
The school is taking all its actions to ensure the success of this year’s inter-school sports event, also with precautions and safety measures.