COVID-19 Diaries Part 33: Coaching online, running outside

Springbok Women’s assistant coach Lungisa Kama has taken the positives out of lockdown, with online coaching and sharpening up his technological skills being among his key learnings.

Outside of work, being able to run outdoors – albeit within 5km of his home – has been a breath of fresh air for the avid runner, who admits he learned very quickly how many steps he could rack up around his house in the last six weeks.

“I firmly believe that when one door closes, another opens, and lockdown has proved that,” said Kama.

“We may not be able to coach on the field, but our coaching team has been keeping busy online with analysis, coaching and meetings.

“One of the positives is that we have been communicating more frequently, and the extra time has afforded us the opportunity to look at things from a different perspective.

“The technical support from SA Rugby’s analytical team has also been valuable in sharpening up our online coaching skills, and that will certainly benefit us in the long term, so there are several positives we can take out of lockdown.”

Zoning in on the Springbok Women’s team, Kama said while they have had to be mindful of the limitations some of the players face in the different geographical locations where they are based, the coaches have tried to engage with the players by sending match clips, and have been monitoring their progress in terms of training.

“Their training is obviously vastly different to that which they are used to, but there are ways to work in rugby-specific training,” said Kama.

“A simple example to improve one’s passing is to pass the ball against a wall, so we have been encouraging the players to be creative in their various roles.

“That said, their commitment and willingness to work hard has been great, and we are pleased to see how enthusiastically they have been following their training programmes.”

Kama admitted that there was hard work ahead to get the players game ready and match fit after lockdown.

“Their training is currently similar to that which they would do outside of training camps, but with limited cardio training, as the lockdown regulations only allowed for running and cycling within specified times last week,” said the coach.

“So, there is no doubt that we will need a proper pre-season to get the players back to the required fitness levels when rugby resumes.”

Commenting on his own training, Kama, who enjoys early morning training sessions and especially running, said: “I can tell you exactly how many steps it takes to get around my house after all the home training in the last few weeks.

“It has been really good to be outdoors in the morning and to do a few road runs since the lockdown was eased to Level 4, so that is something I am thoroughly enjoying.

“The pure joy of training out in the open and being strict in terms of washing your hands regularly and using hand sanitisers are definitely learnings I will carry forward after lockdown.”

And how many steps around the Kama house? “Exactly 96.”