WITH the start of implementation of the K to 12 Curriculum this year, the sporting meets for the secondary division are expected to get a notch higher.
The age limit for most of the sporting meets in the secondary level is 18-under, but most of the student-athletes before were already in college before reaching the maximum age.
With the K to 12 Curriculum, the Grade 11 students, who are mostly around 16 to 17 years old, can still play in the secondary level.
“Before, most of the 16-year-old players are already playing in college, and it’s rare to see players in the secondary level who are 18 years old, which is the age limit for the sporting meets,” said Arvin Loberanis, the athletic coach of University of San Carlos-Basic Education Department (USC-Bed).
“With the change this year, it’s expected na kusog jud ang coming games.”
Loberanis said that the 18-under age requirement remain the same for the primary sporting meets like the Cebu City Olympics, Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (Cviraa), Palarong Pambansa and Milo Little Olympics.
For Loberanis, this is favorable to the competition and also for the athletes’ development. He said that the younger players can hone their skills by playing with or against the older ones.
“I think this is good for us, so we can hone the 13-year-old players because usually they start to click on Grade 8 to 9,” he said.
He said that with the K to 12 Curriculum they get enough time to train the younger ones, who will replace the seniors when they graduate.
The Grade 11 students this year are the first batch of the K to 12 Curriculum of the Department of Education (DepEd). Loberanis said that they were informed that the Grade 11 and Grade 12 students, who are 18-under are still qualified to play in the secondary division in the major sporting meets.