The start of this year’s intramural games was marred with consecutive reports of disqualifications of certain student-athletes. The verdict came after students allegedly have failed to secure a medical certificate and sports clearance which is among the basic requirements for someone to qualify in the play-off of the intramural games. The issue stirred public opinions with Viscans quelling on the lack of an organized process among the involved departments and offices in the planning of SALINGKUSOG 2023.
A particular Facebook post by the College of Arts and Sciences’ Supreme Student Council (CAS-SSC) President Kristofer Balais has gained traction after expressing his concerns regarding the short amount of time that the Institute of Human Kinetics (IHK) and the University Services for Health, Emergency, and Rescue (USHER) gave to comply with the requirements, leading to the dismissal of the athletes.
“IHK organized another meeting on Tuesday, August 29 with the GAMs, AGAMs, and representatives from the VITA Campuses. That was when they gave us the final list of sporting events, and the head of VSU Infirmary explained the requirements for the sports medical clearance. There was no mention of a two-week deadline for the medical certificates,” said Balais in his post.
Balais found it “absurd” that they were supposedly given only two weeks to comply, as stated by the USHER. They pointed out that preparations for the event began on August 18, with only a short window of three weeks (20 days) to recruit players, hold assemblies and tryouts, and handle the necessary paperwork, including medical certificates.
“We are just students and we also have our own limitations. May man kung athletes ra amo problemahon, we also have to set everything in place, from conducting general assemblies, to contacting suppliers and service providers, etc.,” added Balais.
USHER emphasizes the compliance of medical cert and sports clearance
In an interview with AMARANTH, Dr. Elwin Jay Yu, the head of the University Services for Health, Emergency, and Rescue (USHER), emphasized the need for these requirements as they are necessary protocols to ensure the health of students in playing.
“They have to be cleared sa ilang medical certificate. Kay ang uban diha ana July pa, May pa, giingnan na namo na irefer sa specialists, unya, wala man nicomply, so syempre wala namo giclear. Wala namo giclear because wala man pud nila gicomply ang amo requirements,” said Dr. Yu.
Dr. Yu also mentioned that some athletes have only been issued a medical clearance when they recently went to the USHER due to their failure to comply during enrollment. This medical clearance is needed so they can be given a sports clearance, which allows them to play during the Intramurals.
Further, the number of athletes who have yet to be issued a certificate has piled up, which forced them to work overtime to cater to the students.
IHK echoes USHER’s statement
In another interview with AMARANTH, Charis B. Limbo-Rivero, Director of IHK, emphasized that their basis for disqualifying athletes was the requirements issued by the USHER, which are the medical certificate and the sports clearance.
Further, the number of disqualified athletes multiplied as playing teams with an athlete lacking in requirements will lead to the dismissal of the whole team since they will lack in number.
“Naay cases na entire team ang nadisqualify because wala nila nacomply ang minimum number of players for them. For example, basketball, five man ang iyahang player, unya four nalang sila, so di gyud makaduwa kay wala man nakasubmit ang usa. So mao na nadisqualify ang ilang team kay wala nila naabot ang minimum amount of athletes,” said Rivero.
CAS Pres demands improvement
During the interview with AMARANTH, Balais expressed his dismay over the issue and urged the relevant offices to improve in future events.
“This has been emotionally draining for all of us, especially the student councils, our GAMs and AGAMs. This has caused us huge financial losses and the efforts of our athletes during the preparation were wasted. And seeing statements like that as if we are the only ones at fault is very disheartening when we are just mere victims of this broken system,” said Balais.
Balais also mentioned that these events should also constitute “substantiality,” as he said that most affairs seem to focus on publicity.
“I hope that they can match the standards that we promote for our university. Our promotions should not be empty words, but reflect the reality of our university. We deserve better than this. We deserve respect and justice,” Balais added.
The 2023 intramural games dubbed as SALINGKUSOG, features sporting events that serves both as a ground for athletes to harness their skills in the various sporting events, and also as a preparatory phase as the university anticipates the upcoming State Colleges and Universities Athletic Association or SCUAA-8 which will be held in VSU.