Support, protection for student-athletes

We were able to obtain a copy of Senate Bill (S.B.) No 2133, “An Act Providing for the Magna Carta of Student-Athletes”, introduced by Senator Pia S. Cayetano.

The first paragraph of the Explanatory Note lays the Constitutional basis for the Bill: ”…the 1987 Philippine Constitution recognizes that the ‘the State shall promote physical education and encourage sports programs, league competitions, and amateur sports…to foster self-discipline, teamwork and excellence for the development of a healthy and alert citizenry.’”

The second paragraph states that “Student-athletes are a pool of students who have exceptional talents and skills in sports that could be further honed and developed in a school setting. At a young age, they have to embrace a dual role – being a student and athlete at the same time. Thus, this bill recognizes their special circumstance, and aims to provide support and parameters on how they can thrive and excel in both fields of study and sports.

A Magna Carta whether for labor, teachers, medical practitioners or whatever sector encompasses all the rights and safeguards all the so-called freedoms of that sector. In this case, therefore, we are not talking of a Magna Carta for students in general, we are dealing with a presumably small (perhaps not even five percent of a school’s total population) and very specific sector engaged in a very specific activity.

It is therefore understandable when the bill states, that, “as a bill of rights for Student-Athletes, it endeavors to address issues and concerns encountered for many years by many “Student-Athletes past and present as there is no existing law that promotes and protects their overall welfare.”

The purpose of this bill is even more pointed: “It is the purpose of this bill to provide appropriate recognition and protection to the rights and general welfare of Student-Athletes encompassing academic, amateur sports, mental and physical health aspects. On the other hand, it also acknowledges that these Student-Athletes are in a specific; situation and thus the bill also specifies the accompanying responsibilities that they have to fulfill to this end. Schools, athletic associations, Student-Athletes and their parents recognize and uphold the amateur nature of the programs and competitions that Student-Athletes participate in.”

The key and most important word in the preceding paragraph is “amateur” or one who plays for the love of the sport. And this concept of amateurism will once again be brought up in the latter part of this column as an important aspect of the whole concept of student-athletes and athletic scholarships in the Philippines and in the United States. The Philippines copied the concept of athletic scholarships from the US.

To continue with the rest of the Explanatory Note of the bill of Sen. Cayetano, a sportswoman of note, the fifth paragraph says that “this bill also recognizes that Student-Athletes should be protected from any discriminatory policy that may restrict their participation in any field of amateur sports that they have chosen to participate and compete in and consequently hinder the development of their full potential as athletes and well-rounded citizens of our country.”

Lastly the bill stresses that it “recognizes the vital role of the schools and accredited athletic associations, not only in providing the opportunity and avenue for Student-Athletes to participate and excel in sports, but also ensuring the protection of Student-Athletes…respective fields of amateur sports.”

A chapter in the book “Government and Sport: The Public Policy issues”, edited by Arthur T. Johnson and James H. Frey is entitled (ominously), “The Amateur Athlete as Employee”, written by Allen L. Sack and Bruce Kidd. The two authors start the chapter with an interesting statement: “What is widely known as ‘amateur’ sport is becoming increasingly commercialized.”

Sack and Kidd add that “amateur” sport has been increasingly professionalizes as well. Most athletes at major athletic universities in the US receive athletic scholarships, which pay for room, board, tuition and other expenses. In the Olympic sports, the rules now permit athletes to accept living and training grants, endorsement fees, and in some cases prize money, as long as these funds are administered by their sports governing bodies.

The authors assign themselves the first task of identifying the conditions that distinguish sport as an amateur or leisure activity from sports as employment. They state while there is no agreement on what is meant by the term leisure, they argue that amateur sport is a type of leisure activity. As such it is free from instrumental or utilitarian constraint. An amateur can walk away from sports without economic loss. An amateur, to use legal terms according to Sack and Kidd, has no material interest in sport, and sport does not constitute a property right.

Based in these insights and others that we were not able to highlight because of space constraints, it would appear that consideration of this Bill will have to include an examination of present day real athletic scholarship practices if our lawmakers want to perform a real service to the academic and school sports sector. In doing so, however, the delicate balance between excessive government regulation and protection of the rights of the youth has to be maintained.