A bigger gun

Summer is just a few scant weeks away, and this hot season usually brings out all the big commercial sports events, ranging from summer 3-on-3 basketball tournament to beach sports and outdoor competitions.

It’s gratifying to see advertisers line up to create their own below-the-line activities and help boost sports, but we should also ask ourselves whether or not these events do any long-term good beyond earning mileage for the sponsors and putting much-needed money in the pockets of the sports associations.

Now that sports is no longer under the umbrella of the Department of Education, where should it go? Orphaned grassroots development is supposedly under the care of the Philippine Sports Commission. But, seriously, with all its miniscule satellite offices around the country, the PSC will have enough trouble trying to get our elite athletes up to par with the rest of the world.

You don’t hunt an elephant with a peashooter. We need a bigger gun.

The House Committee on Youth and Sports, chaired by Bacolod Representative Monico Puentevella, is on the right track. They have a pending bill proposing the creation of a Department of Youth and Sports. Symbolically, the creation of a Cabinet-level position would show the respect our country has for sports development, which has done its share to boost the nation’s morale and economy in more ways than one.

Take, for example, billiards. Since Efren Reyes won the first World 9-Ball Championship in Cardiff, Wales more than two years ago, the sport has mushroomed, like the lechon manok phenomenon of fifteen years ago. One man’s success has spawned a growth industry. How many pro basketball players (not to mention other private citizens) have billiards tables in their homes?

What would a Department of Youth and Sports be able to do?

First of all, it would be able to provide a coordinated, researched program for physical fitness among our children. As it is, our school PE departments are undermanned or often manned by teachers who are only doing it part-time or until they get jobs they really want. And scientific studies have shown that not all sports are suited for children at certain ages. There is such a thing as age-appropriateness for sports. Matching a sport with a child’s age has an effect on his emotional and psychological development, as well.

Secondly, the new department would have the funding to put up infrastructure that would serve not just our elite athletes, but everyone. Sports medicine, sports psychology and other fields would be encompassed by the broadened powers of the new department. And since it is part of the Cabinet, the executive department will be able to support it more strongly. Sports will not be an outsider begging for funds.

Third, the new sports department will have the clout to bring in more trainors and consultants for the short term to transfer technology. Imagine if the best sports minds from abroad came here to conduct workshops on a regular basis. They would not only increase interest in the multifarious aspects of sport, they would create new job opportunities for those who may not have the capability or youth to be athletes anymore.

Fourth, having more powers will allow the Department of Youth and Sports to do more in terms of creating programs for the other branches of government. By coordinating with the Departments of Education and Local Governments alone, they will be able to ensure the physical fitness of our countrymen through testing and evaluation, and compare it with the standards of other countries. Having a healthier nation will save us billions of pesos in lost work, sickness benefits, insurance payments, and certainly lighten the load of the Department of Social Welfare and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology. Active youth are busy youth, and busy youth won’t have time for vices and destructive behavior. We will be a palpably more productive country.

I hope that the pending bill makes it all the way to becoming a law, and does not get buried under all the other pending matters in Congress. We may not realize it, but with the growing fastfood industry and mass entertainment spreading through our country, our health and culture is being gradually homogenized with that of countries like the United States, where half of their children are already experiencing tremendous health problems.

Heaven forbid that should happen here. We’ve enough problems as it is.

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The Archdiocese of Manila is holding an Archdiocesan Convention from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 26-27 at the Fiesta Pavilion of the Manila Hotel. This was announced by Rosario N. Lopez, chairman of the Apostleship of Prayer.

The theme of the convention is "Journeying in Faith Towards Renewal of the AP." Eucharistic celebrations will be held by His Eminence, Jaime Cardinal Sin on the first day, and His Eminence, Ricardo Cardinal Vidal on the second day. Imus Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle will be keynote speaker. Other speakers include Bishop Teodoro Bacani and Msgrs. Gerry Santos, Sabino Vengco and Emmanuel Sunga.

More than 1,000 delegates are expected to attend.

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Ginebra Gin Kings Mark Caguioa and Jay Jay Helterbrand show you how to do the alley oop, and PBA coaches evaluate the RP teams’ showing on tomorrow’s edition of The Basketball Show on RPN 9, 2-3 p.m.