Taking training online to keep the connection with players
With all collective sporting activities having ceased in the bid to slow down the spread of the deadly Covid-19 virus, clubs are looking for new ways to not only keep their members fit and healthy, but to also ensure they stay connected.
One such club is Oranmore/Maree’s Naomh Mhuire ladies football club, which last Friday evening ran a live online children’s yoga session for its U-8s and U-10s. In all, 32 children logged on to the session, which, in many cases, was also undertaken by extended family members, such as parents and siblings.
The 30-minute workout was run by qualified yoga instructor, Suzanne Clarke – a mother of one of the Naomh Mhuire players – from her home; while, on a different portal, the technological aspects of going live were dealt with by another parent, Gordon Crowley, from his home.
The session was the brainchild of Crowley. A driving force behind the club’s nursery programme – U-6, U-8 and U-10 – in recent years, he says it is crucial, now more than ever, to cater for the physical and mental wellbeing of their players.
“Since I got involved with the Naomh Mhuire girls, we have always put a lot into developing a connection between the girls. I fundamentally believe not only in the physical benefits of sport, but also the mental and social benefits of it as well, the latter in terms of each child becoming part of a little tribe,” explains Crowley.
“We were due to go back playing football soon and, when it [Covid-19] came around and we couldn’t meet up, I started thinking: how can we retain the connection between the girls? That was the number one thing on my mind.”
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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