Philippine sports back at standstill

MANILA, Philippines — Once again, Philippine sports has come to a stop.

The Games and Amusements Board (GAB) yesterday ordered all professional leagues, including all athletes, to revert to “individual backyard training” as the government re-imposed the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the National Capital Region (NCR) and four nearby provinces.

The current status will be in place until April 4. The rise in new COVID-19 cases in the country reached a record high of 10,016 yesterday.

Even amateur squads like Gilas Pilipinas has called a break in its ongoing training and group workouts which the team has been doing under the more lenient general community quarantine (GCQ) classification.

The GAB under chairman Abraham Mitra reiterated that “professional sports competitions and group training” are prohibited in areas under ECQ.

“Professional sports training shall be limited to solo or individual activities conducted indoors or anywhere within the individual’s private property,” the GAB stressed.

All 12 PBA teams have been doing “non-contact strength and sport-specific training” in batches of five players since February while Metro Manila was under GCQ.

“It’s just too bad we have to stop for maybe a week because we’ve been really working hard and we’ve had momentum going with our practices,” NLEX coach Yeng Guiao said in the team’s Facebook show.

“So we’ll just have to find ways to keep ourselves in shape and not waste these next few days. Kailangang sumunod tayo sa regulasyon (We have to follow government regulations),” he added.

Premier Volleyball League (PVL) clubs also needed to call a halt to their batch training in LGU-approved venues.

Equally affected by the ECQ restrictions was Gilas, which is breaking camp after two weeks in bubble training in Calamba, Laguna in compliance with the directive.

“The timing is unfortunate because our Gilas Pilipinas pool has been putting a lot of work to prepare for FIBA competitions in the coming months,” said Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) president Al Panlilio.

“It’s been a difficult stretch for the SBP and the team as COVID-19 has affected so many of our plans but we have no other choice but to adjust and move forward,” he said.

Gilas was supposed to train at Inspire Sports Academy for a full month until April 15 as part of its build-up for the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers in mid-June in Clark and FIBA Olympic Qualification Tournament in late June in Serbia.

The SBP hasn’t set a timetable for the training resumption.

“Right now, we all have to hunker down and stay safe at home. We thank our players, coaches, and staff for soldiering on amidst the difficult situation,” said Panlilio.

Gilas is among the select national teams that have been allowed to train in an isolated and protected environment at Inspire, along with Olympics-aspiring bets from taekwondo and boxing.