DAVAO City—Demonstration sports and more grassroots participation mark a redesigned sports program that Davao del Norte will be implementing to assure the province’s athletes of continued support amid the lockdown wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Provincial Sports and Youth Development Office (PSYDO) of Davao del Norte tinkered with its sports activities and competitions to adopt to the limitations and protocols during the pandemic.
“It’s still possible to conduct trainings and competitions virtually—when competitions were hard to believe that they could be staged during pandemic held,” PSYDO Department Head, Giovanni Irong Gulanes said. “The nature of the competitions had to change in order to adapt to the difficult times.”
For sepak takraw, basketball and taekwondo, Gulanes said athletes record on video their routines in ball control, freestyle dribbling and speed kicking and submit them online to judges.
“Now there is an incoming online dancesport, no partners, just individually,” he said. “This pandemic pushed us to be innovative.”
Gulanes said that the PSYDO intends to reach out to athletes who have no gadgets or internet.
“Our staff at PSYDO will go to these places and record the participants on video. Originally, the parents were tasked to take the videos. But it’s no longer that way, we want to have an inclusive sports program,” Gulanes said.
“This way, the provincial sports office would ensure more grassroots participation,” he added.
Gulanes said the province also helped keep the athletes in shape during the lockdown with provincial sports association and technical officials serving as trainers and coaches.
The capital of Tagum City, meanwhile, opened a new residential care facility for children with special needs.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office recently inaugurated the Center for Children with Special Needs (CCSN) as one of the highlights of its 70th anniversary celebration.
The CCSN is the first and only DSWD-managed facility in Mindanao that will cater to children with special needs. It has a 60-bed capacity.
The city government of Tagum donated 4,000 square meters of land to the DSWD where the residential care facility now stands.
“We extend our utmost appreciation to the local government for their support to this project,” Assistant Regional Director for Operations Merlinda Paragamac said.
Image credits: Manuel Cayon