Highlands try to cover all the bases remotely
Coach Owen da Gama has revealed details of the measures Highlands Park have implemented to keep their players fit during the 21-day lockdown‚ including spot tests on their “Highlands Park Lockdown” WhatsApp group.
All Premier Soccer League clubs are battling the problem of how to keep players fit and motivated during the lockdown so they can be ready for action if and when play resumes.
Da Gama said Highlands had left nothing to chance and were trying to keep up an intensity in training despite everything having to be done remotely.
“Director Larry Brookstone told the players that no-one leaves the province‚ so they are all still in Gauteng‚ even those from Cape Town‚ Durban and so on‚” Da Gama said.
“The players were given a questionnaire‚ asking who they live with‚ what transport they use and so on.
“Our physios Simoné Conley and Chris Kamper then held one-on-one workshops with the players to understand what they know about the virus and what they need to do to follow the rules. So the players are well informed.”
Like all clubs‚ the players have been given individual programmes to work on‚ and equipment to use‚ but unlike other teams‚ the players are tested daily on the intensity of their training.
“The players are given a programme every evening to keep it fresh‚ and Simoné selects five players at random who must film what they are doing and upload it to our WhatsApp group.
“The players then rate the session out of 10 for intensity and difficulty‚ so we are all in daily contact with the players and doing our best to keep that human contact and interaction going.
“That is important‚ because isolation can be difficult mentally. There is no doubt the players miss the team dynamics‚ being able to laugh and joke at training together.
“But they also understand the seriousness of the situation and why we are in a 21-day lockdown and are all following the rules and guidelines.”
Da Gama said they were not looking beyond the current lockdown‚ and would assess what they did when they knew if there would be an extension‚ or what the regulations were postApril 16.
“Hopefully things will be under contract somewhat by then‚ but we must prepare for the fact that there might be another 21 days added. We will see what the situation is and then Larry will make a call on the way forward after that.”