Technical working group to draft guidelines on training of university athletes

Since the training of college athletes is now allowed in areas under relaxed lockdown restrictions, a technical working group (TWG) will be formed to come up with guidelines on how it will be conducted, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said Monday.

In a joint virtual briefing with CHED, the Department of Health (DOH), the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), and the Games and Amusement Board (GAB), CHED President J. Prospero De Vera III, He said the task force is expected to come. with the guidelines within three weeks.

According to De Vera, the TWG will be chaired by CHED Executive Director Cindy Jaro and will be comprised of representatives from CHED, PSC, DOH, and college leagues.

“These guidelines will be based on the relevant provisions of the PSC-GAB-DOH joint administrative order and will be enhanced with the existing practices of professional leagues that have begun training, in particular what they have done on testing and contact tracing,” De Vera said.

The head of higher education said he will begin forming guidelines with a smaller group before expanding the query to cover other leagues involving schools across the country.

“The challenge is that there are many (The challenge is that there are many) [collegiate] leagues, so we have to start with a smaller group and then when the guidelines are developed we will cascade it to other groups across the country, ”explained the CHED chief.

“The second challenge, there are different sports within a league, so there may be specific concerns or demands for sports discipline, that is why we need the help of the PSC because they are the ones who have the experience in the preparation,” he added.

For the schedule, De Vera said they intend to start the TWG meeting next week and at least two weeks to complete the guidelines.

“I think it’s important that we do a good job showing that training college athletes can be done with all safety protocols in place, with student health protected, and that will be the best argument to ask the IATF for now allow organized leagues to begin, “he said.

The Palace also confirmed on Monday that preparatory training for student-athletes is now allowed by the Interagency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) and modified GCQ.

Based on the resolution signed on September 3, it establishes that “the student-athletes of university athletic associations as defined in the Law of the Republic No. 10676 or the Law for the Protection of Students-Athletes may resume their preparatory training in areas under GCQ and MGCQ, subject to guidelines that CHED may issue. “