Within the virtual calendar that was put together for the current season in the world of school sports, the School Games They have allowed a good number of students to stay connected with their sport. Beyond the fatigue that this format can cause after so long, and that especially in team and contact sports, being behind a screen takes away a lot of essence from these disciplines, the truth is that in any case it allows you to stay in contact and continue with training in the face of a face-to-face return that seems closer every day.
Another example of this is the activity that was carried out with basketball, where an online activity was also carried out. Max Brandau, its coordinator, spoke about the details and how the program turned out.
“The initiative was similar to the one carried out last year. The idea was to hold a virtual skills tournament, obviously related to specific aspects of the sport. It was a smaller championship than the 2020 one, because as several schools have already returned to face-to-face interest in online work is a little lower, ”he said.
In addition, he added that “even so, it was possible to attract those students who have not yet returned in person, either because their establishments have not done so or their parents do not want them to return yet. Three schools participated, Salesiano, San Ignacio and Almondale Lomas, and some presented more than one team. It was in the Under 17 category, women and men, and there were about 35, 40 children ”.
Regarding the competition, he explained that “with a program, a cognitive dynamic was delivered to them in a virtual way through a video, and they had to perform the skills that were exhibited there. I did it with a kind of game that I transformed into a video, the boys liked it, they were all very motivated (…) in team sports this is more difficult and the return to face-to-face, considering that returning to normality is more complicated than in others. In this format, the individual technique can be attacked more than anything, since what attracts the most attention will always be playing ”.
Regarding a possible return to face-to-face, Brandau commented that “at the school level, I have no information, but it is not planned to return to face-to-face at least at this time. In the federated, the national championships are still suspended but what can be done is the Biobío League, which is federated, and it is being seen if it will be played this second semester, but it is more at the club level, not at the school level ”.
In the pool
On Saturday afternoon, in the swimming pool of the Quiriquina Island School of Grumetes, a new day was held with a view to the Araucanía Games and the National Sports Games.
Edgardo Álvarez, Aquateam coach, referred to what this meeting was, where there was participation of boys and girls from various categories.
“Our team usually leads the regional teams and now we are in a process of four dates, with respect to Araucanía there are 8 men and 8 women for the preselection, hence there will be 6 and 6. Parallel to this, the regional team is being sought. that will go to the two dates that will be held as an equivalence to the Nationals, which will be in Maule and Araucanía. There, 7 men and 7 women will classify, ”he said.
As for the day on Saturday, he explained that “we get together for the second date of Araucanía and the first one in order to qualify for National Games, the final one is Friday, October 15 for the Nationals and for Araucanía on October 23” .
In addition, Álvarez added that “it was a very long day, with 20 tests, where each swimmer competed between 6 and 8 tests, in two and a half hours. It is very difficult to get a pool, so you must take advantage of the space. About 40 swimmers participated. For the nationals, it was just a training session to get back into the water, but each coach saw in which test each swimmer will go looking for a future classification ”.
Regarding the return to activity, he stressed that “in my club, we train all year, in quarantine we did it at 6 in the morning and then with Laguna Grande, with 11 degrees of temperature. It was necessary to compete, because it is the objective of practicing. Everyone was happy to do it, but the two years of inactivity passed, considering that several tests had to be faced in a very short time ”.
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