ISSUES AND CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED RELATED TO
TRAINING BY THE STUDENT-ATHLETES OF ARELLANO
UNIVERSITY
DURING PANDEMIC PERIOD
Introduction
The world has been hit hard and to this day continues to suffer from the
coronavirus pandemic also known as COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic has
spread rapidly to almost every country of the world since it began. Physical and
social distancing measures, confinement of companies and businesses, schools,
churches, and overall social life, which have become mediocre to cut down the
spread of the virus, have also suspended many aspects of life, including sports.
The stoppage of amateur and professional athletic events around the world,
including sports such as basketball, football, soccer, rugby, baseball, tennis, and
recently the Olympic Games, illustrates that the sport world is also an important
part in this scenario and has a fundamental role in the containment of this
pandemic, and as a result, those directly and indirectly involved with these events
have been impacted, (Andreato, L.V., Coimbra, D.R., & Andrare, A. 2020). In this
scenario, it is very important for the athletes to remain physically active in order to
reduce the impact of detraining and to make the transition back to a daily routine
easier after being confined in home. However, many athletes, especially college
seniors, may be feeling a sense of disappointment and frustration as most sports
seasons, activities, and training camps have been cancelled due to the coronavirus
pandemic. Under such conditions, many athletes tend to be less physically active,
have longer screen time, irregular sleep patterns as well as worse diets, resulting in
weight gain and loss of physical fitness, (Bas, D., Martin, M., Pollack, C. &
Venne, R. 2020). Varied researches long demonstrated that more likely, student-
athletes will train less and have training issues during the pandemic and it is
common but a very important problem to be addressed.
In the Philippines, the cessation of the country's major professional and
amateur leagues due to the covid-19 pandemic has also caused other athletes,
especially collegiate athletes to stop training. All were immediately sent back to
their respective homes and provinces to stay there during community quarantine.
Over the past few months, with the help of technology and other methods, student-
athletes have been able to resume their training. However, normal face to face
training is way too different from today's home or self-training scenario, it lacks of
adequate space and equipment for training, as well as the presence of the coach
beside them. This is why issues and challenges related to training emerge and
affects the athletic performance of the student-athletes.
This research focused on the issues and challenges related to training
encountered by the student-athletes of Arellano University during the pandemic
period. This study also aims to seek and examine the answers for their dilemma
with regards to their training. The findings of this study will directly benefit the
student-athletes to prevent issues and challenges, deepen their understanding about
their dilemma, and to improve their training and athletic performance.
The mentioned dilemma above can be seen and observed in current
situation. Many of the student-student athletes are advised to do home training that
result difficulties in coping up with the standards or competencies that are needed
to compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association. Although training
program is already given by the coaches to their athletes, those workout in it were
taught but not apprehended by most of the student-athletes due to some personal
reasons. If the student-athletes were not aware of their training program, then it
will create domino effect and really affect the whole team. In this line, the
researcher conducted the study to address the existing problem related to their
training and also help the Arellano University student-athletes to perform at their
best.