Ateneo’s interesting forum

This Saturday, the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Parents Teachers Association will hold an interesting forum, which if I’m right, is a first in Cebu.

Called One Big Fight ‘Chill lang diha’ the forum is designed for sports parents and among the speakers are a mom whose five kids--four boys and one girl-are all into football, the athletic director of Ateneo de Davao University, Rico Navarro, the school’s athletic director, and Father Manny Uy himself.

I especially like the title of the forum because, yes, sometimes parents do need to take a chill pill as they tend to get too distracting in the sidelines, especially when the play gets physical. I remember last year, during the Cebu Schools

I especially like the title of the forum because, yes, sometimes parents do need to take a chill pill as they tend to get too distracting in the sidelines, especially when the play gets physical.

Athletic Foundation Inc. football matches, a few parents from two schools got a bit out of hand with their jeering and for me, it reflected badly on their school.

So it’s good that Ateneo is taking the charge in this one as the school is involved in heated rivalries in football and basketball in the Cesafi. I hope too other schools would copy this idea and hold their own “Chill lang diha” programs. Take a cue from some of the football dads whose sons play in rival schools, not only do they learn to take it easy, heck they share a few drinks after their sons match.

The University of San Carlos Basic Education Department, which had a change in coaching personnel last year, didn’t hold a formal forum but the coaches have started educating their football parents on proper decorum and behavior. And during the games that I saw last year, I admit there was a remarkable change.

If the Ateneo forum also leads to a positive change in parents behavior in the sidelines, I hope this practice will be institutionalized in Cebu sports. I know majority of the parents are the behaved ones, but we can’t deny that there is a growing concern regarding parental behavior during the games. And we all know what happens when one or two bad apples join a bunch.

Parents should remember that whenever they cheer for their kids, they become defacto representatives of their school too and whatever they do—bad or good—will reflect on their school.