The activity – developed by the School of Physical Education of the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso – aims to give children a greater approach to sports practices.
An entertaining and educational initiative was the one that took place in the Gymnasium of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, where we started the second version of the Modified Games Tournament. Play and Connect, organized by the PUCV School of Physical Education and whose objective is to promote spaces for sports initiation in children.
Different educational establishments participate in the modified games tournament and are carried out by fourth-year students (didactic subject 3) of the PUCV Physical Education major, and where first-year students (subject development and motor learning) were also invited, the which in total number more than 150 students. For one of the organizers of the event and also a teacher at the School of Physical Education, Juan Hurtado, “this activity is focused on the schools of the Local Public Education Service and on this occasion children from third to fifth grade from Liceo N°1 participated. of Girls of Valparaíso and the San Judas Tadeo School,” said Hurtado.
The teacher from the School of Physical Education added that modified games are a sporting event that is carried out for the initiation of physical activity in children and where they, beyond making their technical skills available, focus on the forms of understand the sport. “They are much more open to the community, in that people don’t need as much practice to participate in a modified sports game, they just need to understand what it is to participate in it,” he added.
For Benjamín Jorquera, a fourth-year student studying Pedagogy in Physical Education at the PUCV, participating in this event is extremely enriching. “This activity is born from the didactic subject 3 and allows us to constantly learn and teach through play so that the children become increasingly more motor capable,” said Benjamín Jorquera, who added that “in addition, this type of instances allows us to implement what we “We have already learned during the four years we have been in the race.”
Regarding the participating schools, Mónica Fernández, Physical Education teacher at Liceo N°1 de Niña, pointed out that “this is a great opportunity for girls to leave their establishments and learn different ways of doing physical activity and socializing with other establishments. “The girls are very motivated in activities that are different and it opens up a totally different field than what we have always been used to.”
It should be noted that during the day the fourth-year students of the PUCV Physical Education program prepared four modified games: target and target, divided court games, invasion games and field and bat games. “This is a different classification than traditional sports and we hope it will be a contribution for both children and future Physical Education teachers,” said Professor Juan Hurtado.
