Sunday, August 17, 2008 Quijano: Sports is life with the volume turned up By Jingo Quijano Last Round
SO HOW do you reconcile the fact that we have the best pound-for-pound boxer in the planet today, but we can only qualify a lone entry in the Olympics and that lone entry can’t even get past the first round?
Expectedly, the oh-so-familiar calls for a revamp of our amateur boxing program resurfaced again like clockwork after each Olympic catastrophe.
And predictably, some measures will again be undertaken, maybe some more cash infused. People will be replaced and then we can all hold hands and hope for the best.
But is it really that simple?
P.E. Sadly, stop-gap measures to a sports program will not be enough. Sure, we may get lucky, but if we are to rely on a sustainable remedy for this malaise that inflicts us, we have to go much, much deeper than revamping a sports program.
It goes into our very concept of sports. It’s a question of how we value it and whether or not we view it only as a pastime or a distraction to our myriad problems.
Allow me to illustrate.
How many Physical Education classes do our primary school students have in a week? Only one is mandated. Compare that to the units upon units of academic subjects they have to study.
My daughter Julia is in the first grade. As a sports buff wishing to instill the love of sports in her, I wish there were more PE classes for her.
To address this paucity, I take her jogging on some days or bring her with me to watch me workout or box, hoping to spark her interest in sports.
In Cuba, children under 10 years old are already hitting the punch mitts—with the goal of winning a medal at the Olympics already instilled and inculcated in their young minds.
I’m not advocating that we follow suit on what would seem to be radical approach for us at this time. What I’m simply saying is that not all of us were meant to be doctors, lawyers, engineers etc..
Here’s a wild thought. Some of you guys reading this column could possibly have been world class athletes but the prevailing educational curriculum just does not give athletics or sports enough importance.
WHAT IF? Remember that lanky kid who hunkered down at the back of our class when we were all in short pants?
Somehow he was never quite adept at the three R’s. He stammered and sweated profusely when asked to recite. He always had poor grades.
But he exhibited impressive facility at sports. He jumped and ran particularly well and excelled at the more physical tasks.
But because he wasn’t quite good at academics, he was unfairly branded as a dimwit and deprecated for his perceived truancy.
Worse, the prevailing sentiment we had back then—and that included our teachers—was that he probably wouldn’t go far in life.
Yeah right! Tell that to Manny Pacquiao who is richer right now than all his classmates combined.
Intelligence has many facets. We are not created equal and hence, we have different levels of aptitude for different tasks. And I’m not talking about just boxing here.
That lanky kid at the back row could have been an athlete, maybe even an Olympian.
But he was presented with limited options and never given the opportunity nor the encouragement that he needed to pursue an alternative.
So what do people like him do in order to give vent to his inclinations? He will eventually gravitate towards clubs, organizations, and the like which are privately run and funded.
Goodbye to a nationally integrated, comprehensive sports development program.
Hence, if we are serious about winning some Olympic hardware, a radical change in policy direction is in order.
Of course, that’s just my opinion.
BALINTAWAK. Congratulations to the World Nickelstick Eskrima Club Balintawak style headed by Grandmaster Nick Elizar, which recently inaugurated its new clubhouse located along Banilad road. Special thanks to Mayor Butch Sepulveda and Greg Sepulveda for making it possible.
THE LAST ROUND. It’s on cute little cherub James Rafael Quijano who recently turned one. Cheers!
