With the completion of the Virtual Sports distance classes, which were transmitted on the digital platforms of the sports portfolio; the approval of sanitary protocols for sporting events with boys, girls and adolescents by the Ministry of Health; and the opening of face-to-face classes in more than 15 sports disciplines, the number of people seeking to participate in the social program has increased considerably.
The modalities enabled for sports initiation and practice, aimed at boys, girls and adolescents from 10 to 17 years old are: Basketball, Karate DO, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Chess, Tennis, Badminton, Fencing, Beach Volleyball, Court Volleyball, Judo, Soccer, Athletics, Handball, Figure Skating, Olympic Wrestling and Artistic Gymnastics. Participants can only choose one mode and shift, having to continue with all sanitary measures: hand washing, use of face masks, physical distance, etc.
“The SND also ordered the development of classes aimed at promoting physical activity as a habit of healthy living,” said the Minister for the National Secretary of Sports, Fátima Morales. In this sense, young people and adults from 18 to 49 years old, will be able to enroll in the Latin Rhythms and Functional Training classes; while people 50 years of age and older will be able to register to participate in dance therapy classes.
With few places available, the massive enrollment shows how, for the majority of citizens, sport has been key in better facing the exceptional situation caused by the pandemic, turning physical activity into a remedy to mitigate sensations such as stress and boredom.
Undoubtedly, the confinement due to the coronavirus has further highlighted the importance that sport has to maintain our physical, mental and emotional balance, in healthy states. Thus, the Governing Body of Paraguayan Sports has among its main actions the generation of spaces for sports development and the promotion of healthy lifestyle habits.
SND Sports Schools
This program is defined as a pedagogical process of theoretical and practical teaching of the different sports modalities, from the age of 10 onwards, through recreational actions developed by children and adolescents, which lead to the optimization of their sports development.
The SND Sports Schools Project makes it possible to optimize the sports itinerary by offering opportunities for participation in quality sports initiation, training and development spaces, enabling access to systematic pedagogical processes. Likewise, it benefits children and adolescents in accessing spaces for initiation and sports development, through a training process of teaching and improvement of sport.
The SND Sports Schools classes are voluntary and the activities seek to complement the Physical Education subject, since they are configured through work in coherence with the educational cycles.
REQUIREMENTS
In the case of minors, the main requirements are the medical certificate that enables physical activity, a copy of the identity card of the beneficiary and the parents or legal guardian.
For people of legal age, to the medical certificate, the copy of the identity document and also attach the certificate of vaccination against Covid-19 with the complete cycle (2 doses or single doses).
A big family
The joy of returning to the face-to-face meetings is not only expressed by the children and adolescents who daily attend the classes held at the SND Complex, but also by the parents who accompany each meeting and also take advantage of the spaces for walks and activities while their sons and daughters are practicing, also generating a great family that supports and accompanies each other permanently.
Esmilce Morínigo accompanies her son Marcelo González every afternoon. “He is 17 years old and is practicing basketball with Prof. Alcides. Since we returned to the SND I see that he feels happy and content. It’s something that I don’t know how to express the way I see my son after he returned to face-to-face classes ”, Morínigo remarks.
“He felt a lot when the Pandemic came and the face-to-face classes were closed. This confinement actually cost us all, but now I am grateful that the face-to-face sports schools are back. Marcelo was very happy because with the Sports Schools classes he has the opportunity to do something he likes and he is passionate about basketball, “he concluded.
Nadia Bogarín is Mauricio’s mother and accompanies him to Karate DO classes. “It is our first experience at the SND Sports School and Mauri came out very happy after the first class. She did not stop speaking highly of her experience from the time we left the SND until we got home. Now he is very anxious to continue participating in the classes so I can only thank the SND for the initiative and congratulate the teachers who make the children feel good ”, said Bogarín.
Inclusive Sports Schools
The SND Sports Schools have a strong inclusive component, seeking to make sports practice accessible also to people with disabilities. Mónica Valdez, mother of Antonio Flores, a Karate student, highlights the importance of physical activity and the results that her son has achieved thanks to his participation in the Sports Schools.
“This is the second year that Antonio has participated. He is a child with a disability; he has cognitive motor and language retardation, and mild autism. We arrived on the recommendation of his neurologist who told us that Antonio plays sports. Here he is making progress with his motor retardation as he is acquiring skills with discipline and also helps him to socialize with people ”, highlighted Valdez.
“He forbade us to miss classes, he does not want to miss his classes and that for us is very important because of the motivation that he is having. I simply thank the SND for the space it offers us so that Antonio and also other children can practice sports healthily and without any type of discrimination ”, concluded the mother of the beneficiary.
Older adults the advanced
The Seniors of the Healthy and Happy Life Group, who anxiously awaited the return to the meetings with their peers in dance therapy classes, were the ones ahead in resuming face-to-face activities and sharing a day of physical activity. The meetings that began a week ago were the first to be face-to-face.
Félix Narciso Pérez, a member of the Seniors Group, indicated that “I have been here for five years, I really like to come, I have several diseases and the classes help me greatly to cope with my ailments, I like being present more than exercising since the house, that’s why it makes me very happy, it helps me psychologically ”.
Sanitary Measures
In the case of minors, the main requirements are the medical certificate that enables physical activity, a copy of the identity card of the beneficiary and the parents or legal guardian.
For people of legal age, to the medical certificate, the copy of the identity document and also attach the certificate of vaccination against Covid-19 with the complete cycle (2 doses or single doses).
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