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Instead of banning athletes 17 and under from combat sports, Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Butch Ramírez said the country’s sports leaders should focus on strict enforcement of health and safety guidelines. safety in all competitions, particularly in age group play.
“In basketball, if a child falls you can get a head injury, in baseball a ball can hit you in the head. In gymnastics, you could also hurt yourself playing, ”Ramírez said in a large virtual press conference last Friday.
“That is why my position as a member of the Philippine Sports Commission is that our interest is not winning, but the safety of our child athletes from injuries,” said the head of the PSC, who expressed his position during the hearing on the House Bill 1526. last Wednesday.
The law prohibiting minors from participating in competitive full-contact sports is written by representatives of the Ako party list, Alfredo Garbin Jr. and Elizaldy Co., 13 national sports associations have opposed the bill, claiming that it could be detrimental to your grassroots programs.
“That is why I recommended to the authors of the bill that they amend it to focus on game protocols, whether it be combat sports or team sports,” said Ramírez. “What I am looking for is the safety conditions of the team and the place and the technical knowledge of those who run the event.
“When we were the athletic director of a school in the south, we all had that,” said Ramírez, who was the former athletic director of the Ateneo de Davao.
He also shared his thoughts on sports coach qualifications and sporting event safety guidelines.
He pointed out that being a former national athlete “is not a guarantee that you will be a good coach. So I think a coach should have a degree in physical education to have a better understanding of human physiology, the muscular development of a child athlete. “
Ramírez stressed that technical knowledge is essential as a coach because “if you have a child who should only have 10 hours of training a week and you have it doing 20 hours this will lead to exhaustion and could be injured.
“Kung wala kang alam sa human physiology and technical knowledge, you could destroy the child. So the qualifications of the coaches are important. “
