Sports in School
Bleacher Talk
July 1, 2007
Sports in School
Did you ever notice that when you pay the tuition fees of your children, there’s an expense or cost item for sports? It might be labeled as “sports fee” while other schools call it “athletics fee.” Whatever it is, it’s supposed to be used for sports. But did you ever bother to ask the school where this fee ends up in the real world?
Disclaimer # 1: Before anything else, I’d like to make it clear that this is not a column questioning these fees at the school where my kids study. [I better play safe here lest they take it against my innocent kids.] :-)
We all know how important sports is in the formative stage of kids. There is so much one can learn and develop in sports that you can’t find in the four walls of a classroom. This is why many schools take on a holistic approach in developing or educating our kids. It’s not a matter of giving kids a full dose of academics and nothing else. Extra-curricular activities are highly encouraged, and one of these is sports. By the way, some schools also charge a separate fee for extra curricular clubs.
So go ahead and ask yourself again. Does the school of your child have a sports program? Is it comprehensive? Are there sports clubs? Intrams? Varsity teams? How many sporting events does the school have? Does the school send teams to take part in athletic competitions?
If the answer to most of these questions is “No,” don’t worry. Look at the bright side. We can thus say that there is an opportunity for your child’s school to go into a comprehensive sports program. If we were to do a survey among Cebu’s current schools, I wouldn’t be surprised if most still don’t have a true-blue sports program for their students. They’ll most likely have a basketball team, but that could be it. On the other side of the coin, I wouldn’t be surprised to see if many students of your child’s school probably excel in a particular sport or at least have a favorite sport as a hobby. And this is the result of a combination of your “coaching” and your child’s developing an interest in the sport. Your child most likely took up the sport in a summer clinic in the past, enjoyed the sport tremendously, and is now hooked to it. And I can make an educated guess that your child’s school most likely didn’t have a hand in his growing to be good in the sport. Or did it? True or false?
Disclaimer # 2: This is not being written with the goal to turn Cebu’s schools into sports academies. I’ll surely get in trouble with your school’s principal, PTA and maybe even the DEPED! I’d like our local schools to review their vision and mission, and validate whether or not sports has a part in this task. And if it does, what are the school’s programs for this?
Can academics and sports mix? Sure they can! Sorry for going somewhere else, but I couldn’t help but cite the example of the Ateneo de Manila and the De La Salle networks, two systems that are known for both their high academic standards and achievements in sports. And I’m not talking about their collegiate programs. These two schools run deep in sports programs going all the way down to their pre-school students! And there’s more than just basketball in these schools.
Their sports programs start with kids as young as six to eight years old and the main goal here is to make the kids enjoy the game. No more, no less. “Have fun” is the main battle cry out in the field and the courts. Kids from nine to ten start to learn the tactical components of the sport as their skills development picks up. Along with these include games and tournaments all in the name of fun. The “12-under” kids get a taste of the real tournament stuff, with chances of making it all the way to national level competitions like the Palarong Pambansa. The sports programs rise all the way to the high school and college levels, and we all know what Ateneo and La Salle have achieved here, don’t we?
I wish I had more space to talk about these schools’ sports programs (in detail), but I guess it’s safe to say that these schools take their sports seriously, and they have the programs to support this stand.
My personal dream is to see a Cebu school develop a program similar to that of Ateneo and La Salle. We have many candidates in our midst who have the critical base of students to make such a program work. But the big question remains. Which school is ready to make the bold leap?
***
Time-out: The past three weeks have seen two major traffic jams due to accidents in the Jagobiao-Basak-Tabok (Mandaue) section of the Cebu North Road. With Mayor Jonas Cortes in place, I sure hope this will change. >>> Happy birthday to my son Popoy! >>> You can reach me at bleachertalk@yahoo.com
July 1, 2007
Sports in School
Did you ever notice that when you pay the tuition fees of your children, there’s an expense or cost item for sports? It might be labeled as “sports fee” while other schools call it “athletics fee.” Whatever it is, it’s supposed to be used for sports. But did you ever bother to ask the school where this fee ends up in the real world?
Disclaimer # 1: Before anything else, I’d like to make it clear that this is not a column questioning these fees at the school where my kids study. [I better play safe here lest they take it against my innocent kids.] :-)
We all know how important sports is in the formative stage of kids. There is so much one can learn and develop in sports that you can’t find in the four walls of a classroom. This is why many schools take on a holistic approach in developing or educating our kids. It’s not a matter of giving kids a full dose of academics and nothing else. Extra-curricular activities are highly encouraged, and one of these is sports. By the way, some schools also charge a separate fee for extra curricular clubs.
So go ahead and ask yourself again. Does the school of your child have a sports program? Is it comprehensive? Are there sports clubs? Intrams? Varsity teams? How many sporting events does the school have? Does the school send teams to take part in athletic competitions?
If the answer to most of these questions is “No,” don’t worry. Look at the bright side. We can thus say that there is an opportunity for your child’s school to go into a comprehensive sports program. If we were to do a survey among Cebu’s current schools, I wouldn’t be surprised if most still don’t have a true-blue sports program for their students. They’ll most likely have a basketball team, but that could be it. On the other side of the coin, I wouldn’t be surprised to see if many students of your child’s school probably excel in a particular sport or at least have a favorite sport as a hobby. And this is the result of a combination of your “coaching” and your child’s developing an interest in the sport. Your child most likely took up the sport in a summer clinic in the past, enjoyed the sport tremendously, and is now hooked to it. And I can make an educated guess that your child’s school most likely didn’t have a hand in his growing to be good in the sport. Or did it? True or false?
Disclaimer # 2: This is not being written with the goal to turn Cebu’s schools into sports academies. I’ll surely get in trouble with your school’s principal, PTA and maybe even the DEPED! I’d like our local schools to review their vision and mission, and validate whether or not sports has a part in this task. And if it does, what are the school’s programs for this?
Can academics and sports mix? Sure they can! Sorry for going somewhere else, but I couldn’t help but cite the example of the Ateneo de Manila and the De La Salle networks, two systems that are known for both their high academic standards and achievements in sports. And I’m not talking about their collegiate programs. These two schools run deep in sports programs going all the way down to their pre-school students! And there’s more than just basketball in these schools.
Their sports programs start with kids as young as six to eight years old and the main goal here is to make the kids enjoy the game. No more, no less. “Have fun” is the main battle cry out in the field and the courts. Kids from nine to ten start to learn the tactical components of the sport as their skills development picks up. Along with these include games and tournaments all in the name of fun. The “12-under” kids get a taste of the real tournament stuff, with chances of making it all the way to national level competitions like the Palarong Pambansa. The sports programs rise all the way to the high school and college levels, and we all know what Ateneo and La Salle have achieved here, don’t we?
I wish I had more space to talk about these schools’ sports programs (in detail), but I guess it’s safe to say that these schools take their sports seriously, and they have the programs to support this stand.
My personal dream is to see a Cebu school develop a program similar to that of Ateneo and La Salle. We have many candidates in our midst who have the critical base of students to make such a program work. But the big question remains. Which school is ready to make the bold leap?
***
Time-out: The past three weeks have seen two major traffic jams due to accidents in the Jagobiao-Basak-Tabok (Mandaue) section of the Cebu North Road. With Mayor Jonas Cortes in place, I sure hope this will change. >>> Happy birthday to my son Popoy! >>> You can reach me at bleachertalk@yahoo.com
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