THE guidelines for student athletes’ return to training were announced on Monday, a development that shows sports could be slowly beating the Covid-19.
But the guidelines were neither warmly welcomed nor enthusiastically embraced by certain stakeholders in the collegiate leagues.
“We will follow the guidelines,” said Letran’s Fr. Victor Calvo Jr., the National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 96 management committee chairman. “In fact, I sent two representatives to help formulate the guideline.”
Calvo said Lyceum of the Philippines University’s Herc Callanta and Jose Rizal University’s Paul Supan helped the technical working group (TWG) in formulating the guidelines under the supervision of the Commission on Higher Education Chairman Prospero de Vera III.
De Vera—along with Philippine Sports Commission Chairman William Ramirez, Games and Amusements Board Chairman Abraham Khalil Mitra and Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje—bared the guidelines in an online press conference on Monday.
The guidelines bordered on two major components on student athletes’ return to training—the preferred online training and the stay-in concept which involves a bubble facility and parents’ condent for the young athletes.
Calvo, however, set some reservations on the stay-in concept.
“I don’t have any idea yet on who can afford the cost and risk of these guidelines for now,” he said.
University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons Head Coach Bo Perasol said it would be best if the authorities slow down a bit in allowing the return of school sports.
“The risk will always be there. That’s why it is important not to rush it,” Perasol said. “Health protocols have to be firmly established and followed.”
But Perasol said that looking at the bright side of things he said, school sports is already moving forward.
“The good part about that is that we’re finally moving forward. One small step at a time. There’s going to be a lot of work to be done yet to ensure the safety of everyone,” he said.
Diliman University Head Coach Rensy Bajar also stressed the students’ safety must always be a priority.
“I think we have to wait for the vaccine. I feel it’s still risky student if we start training now,”Bajar said.
The CHED will submit the guidelines to the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases this week for approval.