Well, if someone had told me in February that our season would come to a very abrupt end on 13th March (Friday 13th March – definitely unlucky for some) I would never have believed it. However this was the day I sat down with our Chairman and as we watched events unfold with the Coronavirus crisis we made the decision to stop all training with immediate effect……little did we know that it would be almost 3 months before we would take to the field again.
As restrictions began to be slowly lifted and the FA gave the green light for small group training, we began to plan a possible return. Instead of ordering new training equipment and kits, I was ordering hand gel, masks and gloves in preparation for our first sessions. We asked parents for feedback – who would be interested in returning? To our surprise every one of our team was keen to return as soon as possible, the general feeling was that children were desperate to return and parents were fully supportive too. So the planning began and if I’m honest it scared me half to death……how could we ensure the children’s safety? How would we follow the numerous guidelines? What if the children forgot to stay 2 meters apart? What if parents didn’t follow the rules………….and so on and so on…………rules and regulations were swimming around my head, sleepless nights followed………should we go back? Should we wait?
A decision was finally made – we would return! We would follow the guidelines and put our own measures in place to ensure the children’s safety to the best of our ability. The first session back was odd to say the least, it was quiet and some of the players hadn’t seen another child for almost 3 months! However after half an hour, I looked at the session and I knew that the decision was the right one, children exercising, having social contact again and of course the most important thing – a ball at their feet (their own ball – no shared equipment allowed of course…).
I think that the break has proved that football (and all other sports) provide so much more than just playing a game. It provides friendships, social skills, teamwork, exercise, mental health benefits and of course good old competition.
Our players have quickly got used to the new regime – hand gel before training, during training if they touch any equipment and again at the end of training. 2-meter distancing which they have been brilliant with and parents are also adapting to the need to be present at training in case of the need for first aid administration. Managers and coaches have been supplied with masks and gloves which we hope they will never need to use for the administration of life or limb saving first aid. A few of the many measures we have put in place for our safe return.
We may not be able to play a game just yet but we have our fingers crossed that it won’t be long, after all there’s nothing like hearing ‘when can we have a match?’ from the 3rd minute of training!
