While students have coped with the effects of COVID-19 through online classes, the same can’t be said for all student-athletes. Other schools have postponed training their athletes online, yet MGC New Life Christian Academy (MGCNLCA) has continued with virtual training. For over a year now, MGCNLCA’s varsity members, along with their coaches, have trained using Zoom. Though this proved to be a struggle at first, both the coaches and trainees worked hard to adjust to the online setup.
MGCNLCA’s badminton varsity team, led by Coaches Owen Lopez and Rey Buizon and team captains AJ Ching and Brianna See, continues to train on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. We can see these students' commitment to their sport while they juggle both online training and academics. The process of shifting to online training wasn’t exactly smooth for the team; thus, they faced a few struggles.
Struggles and Shifts
“All the exercises we do are not as intense, in a sense, compared to our old face-to-face training,” says team captain, AJ Ching. “Since badminton is a sport where on-court training is almost always required, the limitations of Zoom really show.”
Since most varsity members don’t have access to an open space, online training becomes very limited. On top of that, badminton is also a team sport, so the players need their peers to help them train. Because they can’t meet face to face, they aren’t able to practice their team dynamics. Above those struggles, there is always the problem of having an unstable internet connection. The athletes can only do so much to prevent this from happening.
Despite the obstacles, the students found ways to work around the struggles and continue to train for their sport. Ching says that they still find online training useful since it helps with their endurance and keeps them fit.
Changes in Their Routine
Because of this big shift, the athletes’ routines before online training have most certainly changed as well. Whereas before they go to the 7th-floor gymnasium, now the players have their own training areas in their homes. They also have to set up their own equipment and materials, as their coach advises them to.
“Before training sessions, I eat a light snack to give myself energy,” says Ching. ”I also find preparing mentally helpful. Keeping worries like schoolwork away from yourself allows you to focus during training as well.”
Training Program
They usually start with a warm-up or stretching exercises, followed by bounding and jump rope drills. Then, they proceed to the main portion of their training, which their coach usually lists on the whiteboard or through the Zoom chat. While the athletes execute the exercises, the coaches focus on the new team members from last year’s tryouts to make sure they do the training program correctly.
Highlights
Though online training cannot replace that of face-to-face, the team members are still able to make memories with the team.
“Even if there isn’t much interaction compared to before, I just feel glad to see everyone,” says Ching.
The badminton team was also able to hold an online Christmas party the previous year. He recalls this to be a great time since it's been a while since the team was able to bond together. Like most of us, the players look forward to meeting together once the pandemic ends.
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