KIDS talk

When kids talk, parents listen, but when “K.I.D.S.” talks, children, parents, teachers and coaches listened. In a precedent-setting event worth noting for Cebu sports, the sports lecturer team composed of Chris Tiu, Jim Saret, Eski Ripoll and Belay Ripoll spoke before around 2,500 persons in “KIDS”: Keynotes on the Intelligence, Diet and sport of your Kid. This was held last Saturday at the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Gym in Canduman, Mandaue City.

“So what?” one may ask. On paper, the sports lecture event may sound and look “boring” to the ordinary sports enthusiast. The unfortunate thing about Cebu sports is that it hasn’t seemed to have gotten over the old traditional thinking that sports is simply all about running faster, shooting better, jumping higher or becoming a better athlete. We forget that a very big part of being a better athlete can be found in the other “little things” from the other side of sports development that are just as crucial and important.

This was the starting point of putting up K.I.D.S. Knowing fully well that they wanted their children to do more than just play, a group of swimming team parents led by Millette Chiongbian got together to take the bold step to put up Cebu’s first sports lecture of its kind and magnitude. The lecture event didn’t go into the technical side of sports. This wasn’t about how to become stronger per se. This covered another facet of sports that we normally don’t look into unless we are into total and holistic development. This also meant bringing in speakers from outside Cebu. We’ll have to admit that while Cebu may have slowly caught up with Manila in terms of sports development, we still pale in comparison in terms of expertise in the other side of sports. I can count only a handful of sports development experts here in Cebu. Thus came the quartet of speakers from Manila. Coaches Jim, Eski and Belay are top professionals in the field of sports strength, conditioning and nutrition. Since they’ve made sports a profession on top of being a hobby or interest, they’ve made extensive study on their fields and have a made a living by sharing what they’ve learned with specific groups that they handle. The talk covered topics such as getting kids into sports, developing athletes, nutrition and how to balance academics and sports. Chris Tiu is Chris Tiu. He’s the perfect role model of a student athlete who epitomizes everything that one would like to see in an athlete (pro or amateur).

An event like this, especially when handled well, looks like it was so easy to organize. Everything seemed to go so smoothly that it was like a daily thing that these organizers conduct. But that’s what happens when every little thing is taken care of; nothing will go wrong. But when you look into how this was organized and realize that it was handled by a group of parent volunteers who had more important things to worry about like their businesses, jobs and families, you can’t help but be impressed. Handling something of this magnitude for a first event (and definitely not the last) is time-consuming, brain boggling and stress aplenty. For starters, negotiating with the speakers was a puzzle on its own. You had to make sure that all four speakers were available on December 3. How they found a common date for all was roller coaster ride. Chris Tiu and Coach Jim were busy with Smart Gilas at the FIBA Asia and then the Philippine team playing at the Southeast Asian Games. They also had their own personal jobs to manage. The Ripoll couple was not as easy to “grab” since they too, have their own coaching tasks and schedules. The other challenge was getting the support of the school management for the activity. A traditional “old mindset” administration would question the purposes of the activity but this wasn’t the case here not only for SHS-Ateneo de Cebu. The event also drew the support of other schools like University of San Carlos, San Isidro Parish School, University of San Jose Recoletos, University of the Visayas, Maria Montessori, Canduman Elementary School, Cebu Eastern College, Springdale, and others that I might have missed (my apologies). All the rest followed smoothly from then on: lay-out of the stage and chairs, sound system, hotel accommodations, transportation, press coverage and the advertising campaign.

At the end of the day, it was a perfect activity because it was the work of a group of volunteers who did this for noble intentions. To borrow from St. Ignatius, “they gave and didn’t count the cost; they fought and didn’t heed the wounds; they toiled and didn’t seek for rest; they labored and asked not for reward.”

Magis!

* * *

Time-out: Happy birthday to Bobby Motus, our neighbor both here and in Lilo-an. >>> You can reach me at [email protected]