There is time for sports

I had planned to write on whether Filipinos have time to spare to participate in or watch sports.
Given how hard it is to make a decent living in this country, I was thinking of those who didn’t have the luxury of time or resources to engage in sport.
They are so tuckered out from dealing with traffic and commuting as well as the harassment of office intrigue and meager salaries and could be forgiven for not having a sport.
What did they do for sport to unwind and at least attempt to stay fit?
Basketball was a given because those who grew up with the game still find the time or the excuse to indulge in it. There are alumni, corporate, neighborhood and school leagues all around, and it is not difficult to find a group that will find the common time to play.
Watching basketball also didn’t count because the PBA, NBA and collegiate leagues are still very much around enjoying loyal followers who can’t get enough hoop action. Basketball will survive in this country because it is so ingrained in our culture and the game of childhood and teenage years.
I got my answer this weekend at the sprawling UP Diliman Campus. My eldest son Martin, who runs passionately, and I hopped over to UP for a different running landscape. Little did we know that
hundreds of ordinary folk were also there pounding the pavement around the main university road.
Of late, I know that vehicles without school stickers or those that don’t carry ID-toting UP
students don’t get to pass through the campus as easily as before, but it looked like that for the weekend people, who were allowed to enter.
Cars were parked beside the college buildings. Runners and even cyclists had the whole
avenue that runs through the main administration, arts and sciences, engineering and music buildings.
One might say that the current running boom is responsible for this massive turnout of weekend runners. On one hand, this is probably true since there were hundreds in singlets or jerseys that a runner gets by signing up for a race.
There were also the usual gung-ho enthusiasts with every imaginable gadget on their waist belts: small water flasks, MP3s and personal stuff like cell phones and cash. A sure sign of the popularity of a sport is when it seeps into fashion and lifestyle like during the badminton and golf booms of the last two decades.
But then again, the running boom was not entirely the reason why lolos and lolas and entire families were walking and running at UP. Many did not don the body-hugging and sleek fashion of running today nor the brightly colored shoes that sports companies promote.
These were ordinary folk in T-shirts, basketball jerseys, weekend shorts and worn-out rubber shoes enjoying the fresh air, the aerobic workout and great company.
As long as there are open spaces and parks where people can enjoy at very minimal costs the benefits of exercise and the joys of fellowship with family and friends, there is time for a sporting endeavor.
Very often these spaces are
neglected or given very low priority by local governments because of more pressing concerns like basic services.
People will find time to be in sports or exercise if there’s a place they can go to for it.
It does not really have to be a frenetic workout nor a muscle-building effort. All people really need is a place where they can be themselves while breaking a sweat.