What sport to take up

Children these days are so lucky. They have access to so many possible sports to go into with the advent of TV and the over-all development of all major sports. Ongoing these days is the World Cup, the most prestigious tournament for football. Also being played is the Wimbledon Open, one of the four grand slams of tennis. Basketball will always be there, and baseball is a common sight for the American audience. If you look further, EPSN, Balls, Star Sports, Solar Sports and BTV give us a wide array of sports to watch. We even have Formula 1 racing, motocross, mixed martial arts, boxing and so much more.

With all these, it’s virtually impossible for children not to want to get in to sports. While the computer, internet and PSP are there, sports will always have a niche for those looking for action. But what sport should a child go into? Or should a child go into sports despite his heavy schedule of classes? Can school and sports mix? We all know our obvious reply to these questions, don’t we?

Children should be given the opportunity to explore their other interests and parents should be on the look-out for this. After all, parents play a big factor on whether or not their kids go into sports. There are parents who practically “force” their kids to take up a sport, while we also have parents who don’t even want their kids to mix school and sports.

I’ll obviously be biased for sports but for the right reasons, and will encourage parents to give in to their children’s wishes if they want to try out a sport as a hobby. It’s an excellent opportunity to have their kids develop discipline, teamwork, camaraderie and hard work. Sports is very much part of character development. Funny I should mention all these, but believe it or not, some parents don’t see sports this way.

With the schoolyear already kicking in, the first sports option that the child sees will be at his school’s sports program. He’ll see a team playing basketball in the gym and another set just playing pick-up games on their own in another place of the gym or the campus. He’ll also see players practicing volleyball, football and other sports that the school organizes as a post-classes activity. These may be part of their varsity program or a simple club for beginners.

Schools will also play a big role in sports development. They have in their hands the future sports heroes of the country and should give them the venue and opportunities to develop their talents. If a school doesn’t have a sports program, they’ve already denied their talented students a chance to shine. This is where schools will have to take a good look at a mirror and ask themselves if they’ve also included sports as part of the holistic formation of their students. Or is it all study and no play for our schools today? The more “advanced” schools have sports programs that include varsity activities. This sees the school sending teams to participate in tournaments whether here or elsewhere. The CESAFI is the most prominent inter-school league for college and high schools in Cebu. For the youth, a host of age group tournaments also see schools competing against each other. These include tournaments for basketball, swimming, athletics, badminton and football. The Milo BEST, Milo Little Olympics, Futures Basketball League, Cebu Youth Basketball League stand out as the top tournaments for the youth. In football, a series of tournaments will take place starting next week, lasting all school-year round.

            For those who aren’t as gifted as a school’s top athletes, some schools set up sports clubs that also serve as start-up programs for beginners or the simple athlete/hobbyists. These clubs also serve as a talent developmental pool for their varsity teams where beginners with potential eventually join the varsity teams as they grow older.

            Some schools take sports so seriously that they invest in facilities to walk the talk. While basketball gyms are a common sight in schools, some have gone further by building swimming pools, football fields and even a track oval. All this should also be backed up by a core group of competent and qualified coaches. We have many former varsity, pro and commercial athletes out there, but good coaches who know how to teach and mold children are very rare.

It would be interesting to see where Cebu finds itself in how we get kids into sports. Are the kids’ interests supported by their parents? Do the schools provide the venue for kids to learn and pick up a sport? Do we have the facilities and coaches to support all this?

But it’s a total combo work of the children themselves, their parents, the schools and coaches to get it done.

                                    oOo

Time-out: Happy birthday to Pamela Uy-Cruz! >>> You can reach me at [email protected].