By Kristel Satumbaga
University of the Philippines men’s basketball coach Bo Perasol admitted it was tough to keep his players active during this time of pandemic, saying they have no choice but to comply with the government health protocols.
“There’s really not much that we can do together as a team right now,” he said as team practices in amateur sports are still now allowed by the Inter-Agency Task Force in General Community Quarantine areas.
Perasol said the best way they can to adapt to the situation is to have weekly online workouts. Their strength and conditioning coach had also assigned their players individual training programs to do at home.
But those were still not enough.
“It’s still limited as not all of our players have access to a fitness gym or personal gym equipment,” he said.
The Maroons, who made their first UAAP finals appearance in 32 years in 2018, were scheduled to various foreign training camps and international competitions this year until the coronavirus pandemic shook this year’s global sporting calendar.
They were supposed to go to New Zealand and Australia for some games last May, and were set to defend their crown in the BLIA Cup in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in July.
They were also planning to hold camps either in Japan or Serbia before the start of the UAAP season.
All were either canceled or put on hold, particularly UAAP Season 83, which aims to start in the first quarter of 2021 instead of the usual September schedule.
Meanwhile, Perasol refused to comment on the issue involving University of Santo Tomas, which allegedly held an unauthorized training bubble in Sorsogon.
“A lot had already been said about it. I don’t want to add my opinion anymore,” he said.
