Online Varsity Training: Keeping the Ball Rolling

For varsity members, after-school training will always hold a special place in their student routine. Although they have to stay an extra two hours after school multiple times a week, participate in a series of rigorous exercises, practice hard for upcoming tournaments, and occasionally struggle in balancing academics and extracurricular activities, our student-athletes remain more than willing to exert their time and efforts in developing their skills.

However, their routines have certainly changed ever since the COVID-19 pandemic. For the past two years, students have not been able to practice and play with their teams inside our school courts, as social distancing had to be implemented. Nevertheless, while students continued their learning through online classes, the school also developed various student activities in the online set-up and encouraged students to join them in the comforts of their own homes — one of which is online varsity training! Currently, the school offers online basketball (boys and girls), badminton, volleyball, pep squad, and chess varsity training for students in the high school department. Back when we were on campus, we would sometimes watch our friends in training and learn of their varsity activities, but we can no longer do so in our current situation. With that, this article will hopefully give you a glimpse into what online training sessions are like and feature the insights of several of our school varsity members!

Each varsity team usually meets twice a week (Mondays and Wednesdays) for approximately one-and-a-half-hours after dismissal. Generally, they would start the session with warm-up exercises, such as jogging in place and stretching, proceed to the main part of their training, and end with cool-down stretches. Through the guidance of their coaches, the varsity members would do different activities to train their skills, depending on their sport. For example, basketball players commonly perform dribbling drills. Additionally, they learn new skills or review techniques that they have tackled in previous sessions. Similarly, the volleyball players would also do drills with their volleyballs in some sessions but would do conditioning exercises on other days. Members of the pep squad often do conditioning exercises too, or practice gymnastics. On the other hand, members of the chess team watch tutorial videos that discuss chess theory or tactical puzzles and practice what they have learned through sample puzzles or online practice tournaments.

Although most of the varsity teams are not able to compete in games due to the online setup, they do several activities to gauge their mastery of the skills they’ve learned. For some, they would practice their skills during training sessions or submit videos of themselves to their coaches, who would evaluate them, let them know whether they have been doing the skills properly or not, and give them points for improvement. To keep their competitive spirits, the volleyball team shared that they would even do little competitions among themselves, such as seeing which one among them would receive the ball with only one hand the most times! Meanwhile, the pep squad has also shared that though they don’t compete, they still work on performances for special events, such as the one that would be held in celebration of the 4th Street Project.

“For me, I miss being able to play with my teammates. Playing basketball at home makes the sport less fun, and as basketball is a team sport, I have a lot of restrictions when playing at home on my own.”

- Marcelline Tee, Girls Basketball Varsity Team

“I guess what I miss the most from physical training would be our games. At the end of most training sessions, our coach would let us play a few rounds of badminton with each other, and it helped us apply what we learned in training. It was also just a lot of fun for the teammates involved…”

- Phoenix Sze, Badminton Varsity Team

“I miss the ability to see people while playing. These days, we simply look at the screen and see the [chess] pieces move in front of our eyes, while pre-pandemic, we could see our opponent’s reactions or thought processes. I also miss being able to play over the board with real pieces, since I feel like it provides a deeper feeling of immersion and concentration.”

- Benjamin Ng, Chess Varsity Team

It just isn’t the same! While the student-athletes are able to continue training albeit virtually, they also shared some of the things they miss about face-to-face training sessions. A common response was that they missed being and bonding with their teammates physically. More than developing their skills, varsity training sessions were also opportunities for developing friendships, whether it was through helping another teammate out in a certain skill, going through tedious exercises together, or simply having chats with one another. In addition, they also missed running around, playing in scrimmages and games, and doing other activities, such as liftings (pep squad), which could not be done individually at home.

Online varsity training may not be the most ideal situation for student-athletes, but they have also learned to look on the bright side. When asked about their motivation in joining varsity, they mentioned that online varsity training was still an opportunity for them to further develop or maintain their skills at home. Being in the varsity team allowed them to stay fit and active during the pandemic, a time in which everyone is encouraged to stay at home as much as possible. It has also motivated them to live healthier lifestyles and maintain their discipline and time management. Furthermore, they expressed their appreciation for their coaches and team members, who are still there to guide and to journey with them as they improve their skills and enjoy the sports that they love.

Through online varsity training, it is amazing to see that the student-athletes are still able to continue developing and improving their skills, even in small ways. Although we all can’t help but miss those times when we were still able to gather together safely and watch or play in sports tournaments, let us also be thankful for the opportunities that have been made available to us through technology. Furthermore, learning from the examples of our student-athletes, may we also find ways to keep our bodies moving and to live healthy lifestyles despite the pandemic. The pandemic should not stop us from keeping the ball rolling!