If you were the DepEd Regional Director, Division Superintendent, and the Principal of the only national public high school in Central Visayas chosen as beneficiary of an annual appropriation of P500,000 to implement the Special Program in Sports (SPS), what steps would you take to comply with the requirements of the grant?
The personalities concerned are Regional Director Dr. Recaredo G. Borgonia, Provincial Division Superintendent Dr. Marilyn S. Andales, and Principal of Negros Oriental National High School, Mr. Ernesto Ronald Tenorio.
As a student of sport for over fifty years, I offer the following courses of action that may be taken.
A technical working group (TWG) should be formed to address the following:
What principles that can be adopted to guide the formulation of the Vision, Mission and Objectives of the program? I suggest three principles.
Firstly, the United Nations Task Force on Sports on the Millennium Development Goals prescription that Member Countries should utilized sports “…not for the creation of new sporting heroes but to use sports in its broader terms for health, education, social development, and peace.”
In adopting this principle, the TWG must understand and appreciate its implication because it appears to run counter to the main purpose of the SPS which is to identify and develop athletes to become members of the National Athletes’ Pool and who will one day represent the country in international competition.
The second principle that I recommend is from the book of Dr. Rainer Martens, Joy and Sadness in Children’s Sports
, summarized by Dr. Philip Ella Juico, former Chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission in his column published in the Philippine Star recently: “…there are research studies supporting the view that good athletes come not from strong competitive programs in a limited number of high profile sports but from institutions of learning with good, solid and varied activities of physical education and sports. Thus, children at an early age should be provided with experience and given the opportunity to engage in track and field, gymnastics, swimming, football, basketball, volleyball, martial arts, tennis, wall climbing, roller skating and even dance. Some add hiking and camp craft to introduce the young to the outdoor environment. Experts say that a varied experience in motor activity will enhance the development of the muscular, skeletal, neural and physiological systems of the child while exciting his cognitive functions. At the same time, the child will play according to the rules of the game. The idea of providing the child with varied sports activities goes against the conventional practice of channeling them to one particular sport or specializing in one specific sport at an early age.
The third principle is likewise from the book of Dr. Martens: “Sports should be thought of as a double-edged sword capable of cutting in opposite directions. The direction the sword cuts depends on those who swing the sword itself.”
The implication of this principle is that the practice of sports among children and the young could result in developing desirable values and good character. Or, its opposite. In my column of Dec 12, 2011, titled “Ethical Practices in Sports,” I wrote about Foundation University banning an over-aged football player for cheating and his coach for inflicting violence on an FU coach, from all sports activities organized by the University.
At this writing, a Mindanao athlete in the ongoing Palarong Pambasa in Lingayen, Pangasinan is undergoing investigation for being over-aged. Children and youngsters, by nature, do not cheat. It is their coaches who teach them to cheat. Thus, those who will take charge of implementing the SPS at the NONHS, asgur swingers of the sports sword, will face the great challenge of instilling among the program participant the inherent values in the practice of sports. These values are enshrined in the “Sports Covenant” crafted and signed by sports teachers and leaders coming from all over Negros Oriental and Siquijor who joined the inauguration of the FU Institute of Youth Sports for Peace (IYSPeace), in July 7, 2007. The Covenanter promised to support and join only sports tournaments organized by those who share the same values in sports, to avoid cheating, violence and substance abuse, promote respect for authority, camaraderie and friendship, and protection of the environment.
Based on the above-cited principles, the TWG will be guided in formulating the Vision, Mission and Objectives of the sports programs for NONHS. I will submit some recommendations in this area in my column next week.
