Collegiate basketball teams have not yet officially been allowed to return to practices.
Measures are stricter in amateur basketball compared to what have been proposed for by the Philippine Basketball Association. But San Beda Red Lions’ team manager Jude Roque said they will help the Interagency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases get an idea of how to make training doable.
“It’s about guidelines on how to have individual workouts for college teams. Sana mapayagan na kami,” said Roque in an interview with the Manila Standard.
The one-page document was sent to the office of Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, who is the chairman of the IATF.
With the title “The Proposed Guidelines For Small Group, Non-Contact Basketball Skills And Conditioning Workouts For College Basketball Teams,” the document proposes that practices will only be possible in areas under a Modified General Community Quarantine or below.
“It’s a lot stricter than what the PBA gave. I just submitted it last Friday,” said Roque, who added that the proposal is not just meant to get practices restarted in the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the University Athletic Association as they will also benefit other collegiate leagues hoping to have their tournaments back in the running again.
“It’s not just for the NCAA. It’s a general proposal. And it’s for them to study if it’s doable,” explained Roque.
Under the protocols, student athletes below 20 years old can’t participate, with senior citizens not allowed in the sessions, too.
For a player to join, he needs to undergo swab testing and have a negative result.
Health protocols established by the DOH must also be strictly followed.
The proposal has 38 points that need to be observed when implemented.
“If the PBA has started their own workouts at wala naman problema, then, maybe they can allow the collegiate teams,” said Roque, who also declined to comment on the alleged recent practices done by the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers in Sorsogon.