Education beyond sports

Varsity athletes are widely regarded as campus heroes. They personify school spirit. Since sports is a galvanizing element in the collegiate community, athletes assume a key responsibility in instilling school pride. They’re looked up to by students, alumni, faculty, administration and media as symbols of athletic excellence. Clearly, there’s pressure on the athletes to win or at least compete to the best of their ability. It’s what they’re supposed to do as athletic scholars.

Student athletes often sacrifice academic work to spend time in the gym, practicing, building up strength, staying in condition and learning how to play within a system. They’re not hardened pros so the learning process takes time as they mature. It’s a balancing act, almost like walking on a tightrope, with the athletes juggling hours to fulfill their obligations in academics and sports.

The problem is if the student athletes don’t maintain academic passing requirements set by their schools or league such as the UAAP or NCAA, they lose eligibility to play. In the UAAP, student athletes must carry a load of at least 12 units per term and maintain a 60 percent passing mark. The rules are non-negotiable as they should be because no league will want a varsity athlete playing for a school without going to class or flunking his course. That means student athletes must know how much to sacrifice in academics for sports because if they forego studies completely, they jeopardize their athletic eligibility.

To get by classes, student athletes usually enroll in programs that require relatively less work. If they weren’t athletes, they would probably take up a different course, something to prepare them for the future outside of sports. But because of the day-to-day demands on a student athlete, he is often sidetracked to focus on the present and delay thinking of tomorrow. Only a small percentage of student athletes advance to pursue a career in sports whether as competitors or coaches or trainers. So a large majority finish school unprepared for a life beyond sports unless they re-enroll in a course of their choice.

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A survey conducted by La Salle on the senior men’s basketball team showed diverse course preferences. One player wanted to take up engineering. Another expressed a preference for accounting. But under the circumstances, they were dissuaded from pursuing their preferred courses because of time limitations. At present, most of the athletes are enrolled in the AB Sports Management program. Addressing the issue, La Salle’s No. 1 patron Eduardo (Danding) Cojuangco conceptualized a program to ensure that varsity athletes are prepared for lifetime careers or business options in addition to involvement in sports. He tapped La Salle Bacolod education specialist Dr. Elsie Coscolluela to develop alternatives for student athletes to continue studies beyond their varsity eligibility with the view of earning degrees in their preferred courses. Dr. Coscolluela also formulated the program that Ambassador Cojuangco organized through his foundation to provide La Salle masteral and doctorate scholarships for close to 2,000 public school teachers in Tarlac in partnership with La Salle, Department of Education and the host Tarlac State University.         

Ambassador Cojuangco’s program for student athletes provides an enriched academic preparation through either a double-major with AB Sports Management and a second field of specialization or a Liberal Arts-Commerce double-degree. The first option will take 18 terms, 216 units and six years to finish. The student athlete may focus on AB Sports Management at first then concentrate on a second major after completing his varsity eligibility. The second major may be Development Studies (NGO or corporate foundation officer, project manager, community development officer, advocacy officer or conflict management/resolution specialist) or Political Science (government service staff, researcher in preparation for a law degree, politician) or Communication Arts (multi-media production staff, scriptwriter, editor, director/producer, print/broadcast journalist, professional photographer, entrepreneur) or Organizational Communication (desktop publishing specialist, graphic/website designer, video production manager) or Psychology (human resource development, social researcher, NGO social development staff).

The second option combines a degree in AB Sports Management with a BS degree where the graduate earns two diplomas. The BS degree has the following majors to choose from: Advertising Management, Business Management, Entrepreneurship, Public Relations, Marketing Management and Information Systems. This will involve 21 terms, 252 units and seven years.

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Ambassador Cojuangco said even beyond an athlete’s varsity eligibility, he will personally cover the scholarship costs in completing the student’s education. His dream is for athletes to succeed not only in sports but also in life beyond sports. Recognizing the sacrifice that athletes make for the school, he is providing the chance for them to gain a Lasallian education in the course of their choice.

Dr. Coscolluela said a pool of dedicated faculty will be identified for this program. “The faculty will be oriented on the goals, policies and procedures of the varsity sports program, the practice schedules, the peak varsity competition periods which may require adjusted class schedules and make-up classes,” she said. “The faculty will also be encouraged to use differentiated teaching strategies that enable students to find meaningful ways of learning that are attuned to their styles and domains of interest.”

Ambassador Cojuangco’s program will be implemented starting the 2013-14 schoolyear with the senior men’s basketball team as the pilot group. To prepare for it, a life-goal visioning workshop will be conducted for the athletes with career counselling and testing. Athletes’ parents will also be oriented to explain the concept of the redesigned program with a longer duration. Perhaps, other schools may consider undertaking a similar program to prepare their athletes for life after school.