Jude Roque on "Non-Contact" Training Proposal: Need to Maintain a Certain Level of Competition

"The proposal of Coach Jude Roque is a timely proposal" That's how Benny Benitez called what the proposal that the San Beda Red Lions team manager submitted to the concerned government agencies with regards to the possible resumption of the basketball training in the collegiate basketball. More than the itch to return to action, Roque emphasized that they are after is to have "some sort of workout so that the kids won't get out of (playing) condition" as the government doesn't allow non-professional contact sports to resume training until an "effective" vaccine against the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) is developed.

"Bull By the Horn" by Benny Benitez aired its eighth episode last Saturday with Benitez sharing the floor with San Beda's Jude Roque, former University of the Philippine Fighting Maroon Benjie Paras, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) Coaches' Academy Program Director Jong Uichico, and Ateneo Blue Eagles Team Manager Epok Quimpo. While most of the episode revolved around the recruitment wars in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the first half of last Saturday's episode was used to discuss Roque's proposal that he submitted to the Department of Health last week.

Emphasizing the doability of holding non-contact training for basketball which is a contact sport. Roque began "My proposal is just to have skills and conditioning individual workout"  while adding that the health department's minimum prescribed distance of one meter apart per person will be strictly followed. He added, "Each player will be assigned one basketball that already disinfected. Nobody else can hold that ball (except for that player himself)"

While understanding that the Department of Health (DOH) is the leading government agency during these trying times, Roque explained that he submitted the said proposal "so that the DOH can study as they are the medical experts but we know basketball. So maybe, we can somehow give them some idea if certain things can be done so that if it's safe, then why not?"

To put it simply, one of the things Roque included in his proposal for training is to only have four players, one coach, and one health office per training session. There will be two players in each goal while the coach will be at the center of the court, and the health officer will monitor to ensure physical distancing is followed. Each session will last for 45 minutes and there will be a maximum of three workout sessions per week. 

In remaining optimistic that collegiate basketball in the Philippines by next year, Roque pointed that "for you to prepare for a tournament, you will need a minimum of eight months to prepare"  Benitez even asked, "Was  (training through) Zoom not enough?" as the video telephony service provider has been the primary platform athletes are using to train with their respective coaches. Roque answered, "It's very limited (training via Zoom). Not all players have the equipment at home (for conditioning training). Skills training such as ballhandling, dribbling, and even passing (by bouncing the ball off the wall) but how about shooting? Basketball is all about shooting Not all players have a court at home"

For the Red Lion team manager whose team lost to the Letran Knights' in last season's NCAA Finals, "Basically, all of the guidelines (include din the submitted list of guidelines) are from the guidelines set by the DOH and I just added the suitable (guidelines) for college teams" In the end, it all boils down to the collegiate leagues such as the UAAP and the NCAA, and the concerned government agencies such as the health department to at least find a middle ground where things can be balanced without sacrificing health and safety of the everyone involved as well as the student-athletes themselves losing that competitive edge in basketball. As Epok Quimpo said, "We are also training our athletes to be professionals"

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