Yes, that is the major concern of many coaches when filling out the required paperwork for their athletes in preparation for sports competitions sponsored by the Department of Education.
The events this past year were no different from previous years, except that more forms were actually required.
As I have been reporting here in this column as to what ails Philippine sports, all that one has to do is to start at the local DepEd.
It is mind-boggling as to the number of forms required just to compete at the local level.
This will be the 60th year of the Palarong Pambansa, and throughout all these years, there really hasn’t been much success to boast about.
But it seems that most bureaucrats are just content with the way things are, rather than trying to fix what is so obvious.
So let’s start out with some required forms and documents: Certificate of Employment, Affidavit, Sworn Statement, Personal Data Sheet (four pages), Medical Certificate, Certificate of Relevant Training, Certificate of Recognition.
You may wonder, isn’t something so wrong here? This doesn’t look like these forms and documents apply to student athletes, do they?
And guess what, you are right. These forms are merely for the coaches.
I can assure you that in the last City Meet and the NIRAA, all the coaches I spoke with were shaking their heads in disbelief. Too much red tape.
The coach’s time should be spent on training the athlete, not on paperwork.
I have lost track of the time I spent running around getting papers signed.
As a secondary high school girls athletics coach back in Ohio, the paperwork I needed to fill out took all of maybe 30 minutes.
Well, that was the coach’s paperwork. How about those for the athletes? Here we go: Athlete’s Record, NSO or birth certificate, Form 137 of grade level and grades received, Certificate of Enrolment, Parent’s Consent, Medical Certificate, Dental Certificate, Picture Gallery.
So why so many forms required, one may ask?
Of course, we need to be vigilant, and as an athlete moves up the ladder of competition, more scrutiny is needed to weed out those who try to undermine the honesty required in competitions.
What a sad state of affairs when coaches and athletes alike try to manipulate and change forms to their benefit just to win an event.
Even in last year’s NIRAA, there were coaches who manipulated the results to enable their athletes to advance to the Palaro.
All the years that we competed in the CIVRAA, there was never a problem as to who qualified for the Palaro. I became friends with many of the athletic coaches.
At the end of the regional competitions, all the coaches knew which athletes had advanced in their performances. It was never as a result of past Palaro performances, or whether an athlete was part of a relay team.
So now you may wonder if change is on the way?
Sadly, I don’t see any hope for change.
Now I know that some of these forms are necessary. The way I understand it, a student is assigned an LRN number when enrolling for the first time.
In this day of computers, why not download a copy of the birth certificate at that time? No one knows whether that student will be a future athlete, thus, this LRN number and a birth certificate will follow the student throughout his schooling.
Or how about eliminating many forms just by letting any young child to compete, whether in or out of school, and we may just find a diamond in the rough, and thereby, provide an opportunity for someone who may be able turn his life around through sports?
As a dear friend of mine repeats quite often, “Let the children play,” which is provided for in the U.N. resolution.
It is sad this has to happen. Sports should be about fairness. I wish someone would wake up, and realize that some changes need to take place if the Philippines wishes to compete on the international stage.
The media celebrates when a Fil-Am succeeds in the NBA. How about when a long jumper from San Jose, Negros Oriental holds the Philippine long jump record, and even makes it to the Olympics? Most people from this Province have never even heard of her.
This long jumper from the town of San Jose is 18-year-old Marjorie Uy.
Well, enough written. As stated previously, it’s ‘do or die’ and possibly raise the white flag of surrender.
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Author’s email: HealthAssist@hotmail.com
