ORGANIZED sports events have long been focusing on logistics preparations and ensuring that the participants are well taken care of during the course of the sports event. Incidentally, a very essential component of logistic preparations is often over looked, and this is waste management.
Lots of energy and resources are spent coordinating the playing venues, transportation and other logistic incidentals but waste management seems an afterthought that waste disposal is just left to the creativity of the participants.
This is a reiteration of my call for the Department of Education and the city government of Davao to slowly initiate changes in the conduct of sports events. In one of my recent articles dated October 24, 2018, I have already started the call for an “eco-friendly” conduct of the events. I am again reiterating the appeal to everyone involved. Let us make slow and sure steps in instilling the value of ecological awareness to everyone who will be involved in the Davraa Meet 2019 and Palarong Pambansa 2019. Let us go for a clean and green Davraa and Palarong Pambansa 2019.
Apart from this call for “eco-friendly” sports events, I also support the Philippine Sports Commission in advocating for environmental stewardship through sports. This is a bold step forward for the commission whose mandate is the “development of a healthy and alert citizenry through a unified national sports promotion and development program.”
One of the programs they wish to pursue this year is the Children’s Coastal Games. This is an offshoot of the success of the Children’s Games they have initiated this time around focusing on the children from the coastal communities. In a nutshell, the commission would like to utilize the vast water resources we have as an archipelago in training children aged 12 to 16 years old as potential junior life guards who can help in disaster response mitigation in the community. These children will be the recipients of the water safety games that shall be conducted. As a side event, beach volleyball and other games for the children will also be played.
With all the renewed interest in environmental stewardship across the globe, may sports, as a unifying unit, also work its magic in influencing nations, governments and individuals.
Notes from the sidelines:
The PBA will be opening this weekend. It will be interesting to see how the rookies will fare in the league. Hopefully, the marquee names live up to the hype while the unheralded rise to the challenge and make their own marks in the 44 year old pro league.