Another year has begun, and for this school year, new courses and a new curriculum was implemented for the new batch of students. However, some courses remain pure to their roots, and one of those is the Sports Management (SPM) program, which is exclusively offered to athletes. The SPM program was established back in 2002 when a group of professors decided to integrate this program into the College of Liberal Arts. This course, however, is hidden to the majority of the student population because it only takes in athletes participating in UAAP sports.
I know a friend who wanted to shift to the SPM program; unfortunately, due to the fact that he is not an athlete, he was not allowed to shift. First, let me tell you what Sports Management is. Also known as AB-SPM, it is a unique program in DLSU, where the core teaching focuses on sports science and its application. Some students who are passionate about sports would want to take this program, but I would not recommend attempting unless you play one of the sports DLSU participates in during the UAAP. Although it does make me wonder, what would happen if the SPM program was open to non-athletes?
We could only imagine a block section half-filled by athletes and regular students, the typical block “barkada” having a player for UAAP Men’s Basketball during their hang out schedules depending on the games of their “kabarkada” player or players. I could also imagine the idea of students who are passionate about sports, like my friend, taking up Sports Science and having a possible career in the world of UAAP, CNN Sports, or being in the field of games coaching athletes.
I feel like the athletes under the SPM program already have a wide social circle, but if regular students become more acquainted with our athletes through the SPM program, then the uniqueness of the athlete’s inner-circle can be highlighted; unexpected friendships are bound to happen or even unexpected lovers could sprout from this inclusivity. Some students might feel like they can expand their perspectives of sports science. Basing it from an article I wrote back in December 2017, I find that the course is flexible to different fields of study. Sports-oriented students can actually excel in this program, and their devotion to study might even help athletes who are struggling in their major and minor subjects. This goes to show that there are a lot of possibilities that could happen if SPM’s inclusivity were to be addressed. If that is the case, why does the school only offer it to the athletes? If that is the case, why does the school keep it available for athletes only?
We have to see it through the lens of the professors who made the course and the athletes who are taking the course as well. SPM was designed for student-athletes; this means the program’s flowchart is based on a student that is juggling training and academics. In a sense, it’s about the distribution of workload being fair to an athlete who is also a student. An athlete is most of the time preoccupied with their training schedules; it must be a hectic thing to do for athletes to balance their academics, training, social life, and other personal priorities. Now, if we insert the students who don’t have this hectic lifestyle into the program, this makes their academic workload the same with athletes, however, more convenient to the regular student who doesn’t need the extra hours. This can make it an unfair predicament for the athletes.
I’ve had my share of group projects in our major subjects. For an average student, a lot of tension can happen when a groupmate is always missing or prioritizing other things. When fellow SPM majors take on a group project, however, they would probably have a better understanding as to why a groupmate may become unavailable, and that the reason is training. Now if we put a regular student in the mix, there is a high chance that they might not have the mutual understanding as other athletes have for each other, and they might not be able to grasp the student athlete’s priorities just yet.
At this point, it is still debatable if the SPM program should be inclusive, and that idea might or might not come in the near future. For now, we have to accept the fact that the program is not built for everyone. Try to look at the program as a safe haven for our athletes; they can focus on their priorities at their own pacing, and this course is what keeps them balanced.
