Back to gym for college athletes

It looks like the UAAP and NCAA will finally be allowed to resume their seasons after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. CHED recently gave its go-signal for student athletes to return to training under strict safety and health protocols. Inspections are now ongoing by CHED and DOH officials to ensure campus facilities, including dorms, are up to the highest IATF standards.

The UAAP intends to open the next season in February and school teams are currently recalling their players to report to “barracks.” With NCR Plus under Alert Level 2 up to Nov. 30, varsity athletes may start individual workouts in the gym once CHED and DOH inspectors stamp their seal of approval. Non-contact training will slowly move towards contact training or scrimmages in basketball as coaches are expected to initially stress conditioning before actual court play.

Some collegiate players have dropped plans of staying in school to suit up in the PBA or elsewhere during the long impasse. Dwight Ramos, Kemark Carino, Javi Gomez de Liaño, Kobe Paras, Calvin Oftana and Aljun Melecio were among the stars who decided to move on. A few Fil-foreigners opted to stay overseas. But Justine Baltazar is coming back to play his final year at La Salle despite offers to suit up in Japan and the US. So is Ricci Rivero who will stay with UP for his last season.

CHED’s guidelines prioritize the safety of everyone involved in varsity sports. Availability of RT-PCR testing within the school premises is a requirement for athletes to resume workouts and for those reentering on-campus training. Schools are also required to provide personal hygiene kits for athletes and team personnel, containing 70 percent alcohol or hand sanitizer, travel-size packet of cleansing wipes/tissue paper or small hand towel and travel-size hand soap, face shields and masks. Vaccination is mandatory for all.

If the UAAP begins its season in February, the schedule won’t be finished until after the PBA draft in March. That means UAAP players will miss the draft because of a rule that no athlete may be picked if the varsity season is ongoing. UAAP players may apply for the draft but if on draft day, the season is still in play then they must withdraw or else lose their eligibility to finish the campaign. In the NCAA, the rule is different. A player may be drafted while the season is ongoing but won’t be able to join the PBA until the end of the NCAA calendar. PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said he’s open to discuss a possible win-win situation with the UAAP regarding the entry of players planning to join the draft next year.

Sen. Bong Go, chairman of the Senate Committee on Sports, backed the IATF and CHED decisions to restart sports. “Ayon sa guidelines ng IATF, pwede na ang contact sports sa Alert Level 2 areas,” he said. “Kailangan lang magpaalam sa LGU na pagdarausan ng mga laro at siguruhin ang kaligtasan ng mga manlalaro, manonood at lahat ng involved sa mga contact sports. Sa pamamagitan ng pag-resume ng contact sports sa ligtas na paraan, inaasahang makapagbibigay tayo ng konting kasiyahan sa ating mga kababayan sa gitna ng krisis na ating pinagdadaanan at makapagbigay din ng hanapbuhay sa ating mga kababayan. Pero unahin muna natin ang kalusugan ng lahat.”