Lockdown no vacation for SA sport stars
The global coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on all aspects of life, including much-needed entertainment in the form of sports, which have been put on hold.
However, SA sport stars who recently visited Esidwadweni Village in Swartwater to donate food parcels are not treating the lockdown as a vacation, but continue to go about their training routine in preparation for when games resume.
Proteas bowler Kagiso Rabada said Covid-19 required sports players to be proactive and creative to ensure they kept up their fitness levels.
The past five years have been “most hectic for me in my sporting career so this 'break' means a lot, but it has been too long now. The hunger to play again is starting to build up. None of us are sure
“when we will return to the field, but we are all trying to stay fit and active with the limited resources we have.”
Rabada said it was amazing to realise how much one could train without the gym equipment they were used to and that there was no excuse to be lazy.
Springbok player and Stormers hooker Siyabonga Scarra “” Ntubeni said his team was doing well, with their theme Get Cape “Town smiling again and were ” filling Newlands stadium again until the announcement of the lockdown. This is our last year at “Newlands after 135 years so we wanted to make it special for Cape Town people.
We were in the top three of
“the Super Rugby League before we lost to the Sharks and Blues, but that momentus is obviously all gone now.
Rugby is the least important
“thing right now and the focus is on keeping people safe and helping each other.”
Ntubeni said they had training programmes and were monitored via an app and Virgin Active had assisted them with gym equipment.
There really is no excuse for
“us not to train, but doing it alone is hard because we are not used to it. Our team's success comes from our coach who has managed to keep all the senior players in the team who played in the World Cup which is amazing because many players retire, especially after winning such an important competition. However, our
“coach did a good job in keeping the guys together for one more year, so we were doing well in the league.”