The president of the Committee on Youth, Recreation and Sports of the Senate of Puerto Rico, Axel Roque, announced today that a joint hearing will be held shortly between the two chambers to investigate excessive exposure to physical activity and long days of competition between minors.
Roque’s proposal comes several days after he and his counterpart in the House of Representatives, José Pérez, went last Thursday to the Convention Center of San Juan, where the volleyball tournament “Power League Girls Championship” was taking place. 2019. “
The purpose of the visit was to initiate a day of inspections at sporting events, to guide the organizers of this type of event on new regulations and to verify that the physical and emotional integrity of the children involved is being protected.
During the hearing, lawmakers questioned the number of games per day, the number of teams participating and the waiting periods.
In the same it transpired that the event incurred in several violations of law and regulations.
“Soon we will be holding a Joint View between House and Senate to investigate more about the issue and give the producers of these events the opportunity to present their situations, we do not want to become an obstacle to the development of the sport,” said Roque.
Roque, in turn, proposed to help the organizers of this event so that they can comply with the regulations and in that same spirit, “that the Government can in some way encourage sports initiatives that comply with the laws and regulations to continue developing the sport in an optimal and safe environment for all “.
The initiative arises as a result of some denunciations that transcended in a public hearing that evaluated the Joint Resolution, at that time, number 170, now 30-2018, that orders the Department of Recreation and Sports (DRD) of Puerto Rico to amend the regulations applicable so that limits of daily participation are established in which young people of smaller categories can play.
After knowing that there were tournaments that were not complying with the requirements of the DRD regarding the safety of the participants, Roque undertook to make a day of surprise visits at sporting events in order to corroborate the allegations and if they are being implemented. approved laws.
On this occasion, the tournament had 300 teams participating from 30 clubs throughout the island.
And, during the inspection it was found that the conditions were not ideal for the safety of the minors who participated.
“The concession of the place must be accompanied by minimum guarantees for the safety of young people,” Pérez insisted.
“The problem of overloading begins with minors who come throughout the year playing league in the league until we reach events like this, we have to seek to harmonize that they can participate properly, without affecting their physical integrity, to have better athletes of high performance for longer, “he added. (EFEUSA)
