Goducate in Laguna has been helping the community through basketball. This game not only helps to keep kids off the streets but also to help them learn values such as discipline, teamwork, and leadership. For those who train to be basketball referees and table officials, the game provides a source of income. We have been holding basketball training sessions every Saturday for some 60 children aged 5-16. We also started a barangay (village) league which ran for 2 years till we ran out of funds this year.
Last month we extended our sports program to our Philippine National Police (PNP), in particular to the Laguna Provincial Public Safety Company (LPPSC).
On July 29 we held a seminar and training session for referees and coaches. The seminar was led by Goducate Sports Coordinator David ‘Boycie’ Zaman, an assistant coach for the San Miguel branch of the Philippine Basketball Association, which is champion of this year’s National League.
The program started with a word of encouragement by coach Boycie, who described how basketball had helped him to be the person he is today, able to influence the lives of young men who desire to become successful in basketball. He went on to encourage our men in uniform to reach out to youth through sports, through the PNP public community relations (PCR) program. He explained how getting youth to play basketball can draw them away from drug addiction, one of the largest probems in the Philippines now.
I had thought that only our barangay league had difficulty finding qualified officials, but it turns out that even the PNP has the same problem. To find a solution to this problem, further training session were held on Aug 5 and Aug 10.
Our long-term goal now is to create a group or organization of coaches, referees and table officials with integrity. We will draw them from different social levels in the community and give them a chance to earn some income from this work.
This month we plan to let our police trainees officiate in an actual basketball league event. We also hope to bring the same training to other police stations.
