As student athletes come to terms with the reality of no sporting competitions for the upcoming school term, National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica (NPTAJ) vice-president Stewart Jacobs believes that the Inter-secondary School Sports Association (ISSA) could use it as an opportunity to facilitate programmes to maintain engagement and support for both students and parents.
ISSA last Monday cancelled all sporting competitions for the upcoming Christmas term, which included the 2020 schoolboy football season, as well as basketball and netball, which were some of the sports that had previously been targeted for a potential return. The decision was made as a result of the delay in the reopening of schools caused by the recent surge of coronavirus cases. The double-digit increases have pushed the total number of positive cases to more than 2,000.
With the void that has now been created for students in the absence of competitive sports, Jacobs believes that using technology to communicate with students and parents during the period will be beneficial as they try to adapt to changing circumstances.
“Invest in having Zoom meetings among parents who have their children participating in sports. Invest in telling us how we are going to keep our children occupied during this lockdown that they don’t become obese,” Jacobs told The Gleaner. “The ones who have the muscles that are so geared up to run a 10.02 seconds at Champs or score a goal from 30 yards out, they are not going to be able to do it. What do you do with them while they are at home?”
Among Jacobs’ suggestions are the hosting of online sporting tournaments similar to what has been done with chess and for coaches of affected sports to play a role in advising parents how to help their children physically.
“Let the coaches come out now and start to tell parents how to be coaches at home for the time being. That is the investment that ISSA should be looking at,” he said.
VIRTUAL WORKOUTS
Camperdown High basketball assistant coach Nyron Hird said that the school had been conducting virtual workout programmes with its students in order to maintain their fitness and will continue to do so. However, he is wary of the difficulties in inspiring his players as there are no events this semester to look forward to.
“The biggest challenge that every coach has now is to motivate the youngster to stay positive because people are at home. Sports is a major part of therapy for the human being, and these kids are away from that therapy. So just keeping the children motivated is very challenging,” Hird said.
ISSA president Keith Wellington said that the way forward following the cancellation of sports for the school term had not been determined yet. The education ministry has set October 5 as the new date for the reopening of schools.