School-based athletic programs

At the start of the academic year, learning institutions almost immediately prepare their student- athletes for sporting events calendared for the school year by the Department of Education.  Up first are the District and Division Meets where athletes from different schools in the Municipalities and Citiescompete for qualification to the Provincial Meet.

Representing their Districts/Divisions at the Provincial level where the degree of competition is tighter, winningindividual athletes and teams then move on and represent their respective provinces for the Regional Meet.  The on-going Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association at Naga City, now its final stages, will be the basis for the selection of athletes to represent Region 7 to the nationwide PalarongPambansa scheduled sometime this April at Legaspi City, Albay.

With the exception of the Palaro where the Philippine Sports Commission is involved, the games are mainly and purely a DepEd thing and they have the first and the last say on these events.  School officials and department personnel almost always run these games and as like in any other multi-sport competitions, there will always be controversies and quirks.

Yes, they have periodic seminars and updates on tournament guidelines and proceedings but compared to real game officials, coaches and trainers whose focus and specializations are defined, teachers as game and event officials, as per observation, just go thru the motions and often not fully conversant of the technicalities and rules of the games.  Yes, there are, and will always be complaints as to the conduct of the games but since it has been going on as far as I can remember, these school-based athletic meetswill always be part of the curriculum and is here to stay for us to watch, enjoy and yes, complain.

The selection of athletes starts to get tangled at the provincial level, usually with athletes coming from public schools.  Since most of the trainers and coaches are teachers, it is only normal to favour their wards.  There is also the indirect pressure and insistence from school heads to have their favorites included on the team and generally speaking, what the school head says will always be final.  Team officials will have no choice but to protest in silence than risk the ire of their supervisors and the reality of relocating to a remote school reachable only by a combination of habal-habal and walking.

Little or no complications accompany individual athletes as they had accomplished things thru their own merits.  It would be foolish and glaring to substitute a winning bet, let’s say a sprinter or a hurdler with somebody undeserving, just because that replacement is a nephew of the district supervisor. 

Problems and confusion normally get into team compositions.  A winning team will always have reinforcements from another team for an added boost and dependent on the assets added, it could either be a boon or a bust.  Because the picked up athletes comes from rival teams, there could be animosities and ill-will between some, notably the ones left out.  Team practices could be a problem as there will conflicts in scheduling considering that several team members come from different schools. Getting good players on a team is easy but getting them to play together, bond and develop chemistry is hard work.  This is where a good team manager comes in.

Private school teams, specially the more affluent ones, have, aside from their managers, trainers and coaches, also have volunteer parents help run the team.  It would be financially unwise for public schools to have team managers, instead they should get parents of athletes involved with their teams to ease the load on teachers, not on merely asking for contributions which is always the grievance. 

Volunteer parents can help in facilitating the needs not only of athletes but also of team officials and likewise assist in the completion of league requirements.  More importantly, these volunteers can pacify whatever conflict may arise as there will be more figures of authority aside from team officials.   They will become financial and budget planners, guardians, disciplinarians, motivators and friend of athletes and could well be ambassadors and representatives to future events.  I think the powers-that-be at DepEd should consider permanently integrating volunteer parents sporting events as this would greatly lessen the loads on teachers. 

Considering everything, let us all understand that athletic competition is not always about winning but the opportunity to showcase our talents, interact and develop friendship among fellow athletes.