Sports amid pandemic: How do schools in Iloilo cope?

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

It has been evident in the past four months how the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc not only in the Philippines but also to the entire world.

Due to the pandemic, every country’s status was shaken to a different level including its economy, the way of living, and the world of sports.

Since COVID-19’s outbreak, places were forced to be under quarantine levels, and to be under those levels means you will have to move and work with restriction and limitations.

Iloilo City went from Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) to a more relaxed Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) as part of the government’s safety protocol.

Going back to the world of sports, part of the safety measures was to suspend all contact sports and some non-contact sports which stunned most of the active citizens.

Following the suspension of sports operations in Iloilo are also the crucial moves prominent schools did to their varsity teams, which, by this time, should start training for the Iloilo Private Schools Athletic Association (ILOPRISAA), the National Basketball Training Center (NBTC), or the Integrated Meet.

With different universities in Metro Manila dissolving their varsity teams as part of their cost-cutting measures due to the effect of the pandemic, schools in Iloilo had their own decisions and moves regarding their sports programs.

For the Central Philippine University, Sports Director Edwin Laru-an confirmed to Daily Guardian that they will still keep the scholarships of their varsity members.

“We have already plans and options in our training. If the basic education will go online, we will have our virtual training with our athletes. For tertiary if blended siya, we will wait for the approval of IATF if what sports are they going to approve. We will have physical distancing during trainings especially in team events and contact sports. No scrimmages,” said Sir Laru-an during an exclusive interview with Daily Guardian.

For West Visayas State University, Sports Director Dr. Richard Gabayoyo explained that varsities will be maintained but athletes will be inactive for almost a year after DEPED, CHED, and IATF suspended all school-related sporting events including the prized State Colleges and Universities Athletic Association (SCUAA) which they join every year.

As for University of San Agustin, coach Jophil Cercado, head coach of their basketball team from primary to tertiary, spoke out that out of his 45 players for both high school and college, so far only 30 players have confirmed to play and study if given the green light to resume.

“Sa 45 ko ka players high school and college mga 30 pa lang nag confirm nga ma continue skwela  ang iban ang reason about financial gid so wala gid kami may mahimo kay kami mismo apektado man ka problema,” said coach Cercado.

Meanwhile, current members of the varsity team are still receiving home drills and workouts from the coaching staff of Cercado which they monitor online.

In an interview with coach John Guanco, who both handles the Western Institute of Technology and the St. Robert’s International Academy basketball men varsity squads, he said that both squads are still having workouts but of different extents.

For his HS squad (SRIA), coach Guanco together with his coaching staff are laying out a program for the kids and every 15 days a progress report is accomplished.

On the other hand, tertiary hoopers from WIT are doing drills and conditioning exercises on their own.

With the different universities having their own way of coping up with their sports program amid the pandemic, it is crucial to remain focused and at the same time stay healthy.