CEBU CITY, Philippines—The Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) has been continuing its grassroots program via a virtual platform amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Due to the safety protocol restrictions brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, the ever dynamic chairman of CCSC, Edward Hayco, revealed to CDN Digital that he and his volunteer coaches and trainers have already catering to around 2,000 children in their free online grassroots training program in 25 sports.
He initiated the CCSC grassroots training program in 2010 when he was appointed as the CCSC Chairman.
It inspired other LGUs to follow Hayco’s blueprints, considered a perfect program to discover athletes who are “diamonds in the rough”.
Despite the lack of budget and resources due to the pandemic, Hayco and his group of volunteer coaches and trainers pulled off a daunting task to continue their grassroots program through online training.
“We did not stop even during the height of the pandemic in April last year. We have online training last year for those who did not know. Around June to July, we managed to organize an online competition in several sports,” Hayco told CDN Digital.
Internet problems
“We did not abandon our grassroots program, but it was completely different than our regular grassroots program. We usually cater to thousands of children from different barangays. Now, we’re only limited to 20 to 30 percent of children not entirely because of the pandemic, but because of the limited access to the internet.”
Hayco said their biggest challenge is the limited access to good-quality internet or data connection.
Also, many of the participants of their grassroots training program do not have computers or mobile devices wherein they can communicate with their trainers.
He added that he partnered with the Cebu City School Board and the Department of Education (DepEd) to address this issue.
CONTINUING HIS PASSION
Hayco added that he is committed to continuing their grassroots program because he was alarmed by the increasing domestic violence at homes in Cebu City during the ECQ lockdowns last year.
“During the pandemic, we know that many families, especially the parents in their small dwellings are under so much stress. We have many feedback that the domestic violence have increased. So we find ways to help families in a more positive activity by helping their children get active in sports during the lockdown,” Hayco said.
He also revealed that the volunteer coaches and trainers face a near-insurmountable challenge when they first initiated the online grassroots training program last year. It took them a while to fully establish and fully organize their program.
“We slowly started it with just two to three participants in our online training until it spread like wildfire and we’re eventually able to organize online competitions.”
KEEPING ATHLETES BUSY
Hayco also added that his residence at Beverly Hills in Barangay Lahug was turned into the volunteer coaches and trainers’ headquarters.
Hayco, the founder of the world-renowned Dancesport Team Cebu City (DTCC), now the Dancesport Academy of Cebu, said that their online tournaments are unlike any other.
He said that they improvised unlikely mechanics.
“Inactivity, especially for young athletes are very prone to muscle atrophy. Without physical activity, their progress and development will turn back to zero. So, we need to make them active despite the pandemic. We improvised online tournaments by thinking out of the box. For example, our soccer tournament is highly unusual. We conducted an online tournament where the participant with the most number of ball dribble wins.”
He applied the idea with the rest of the other online sports competitions such as archery, athletics, dancesport, badminton, etc.
Hayco also mentioned that they would go full throttle in continuing their grassroots program in Cebu City when things go back to normal.
/bmjo