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.