Category: Joga Blog

How youth sports teams are staying active and connected during a pandemic with JOGA’s #HomeTeamTogether campaign.

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on daily life has made it challenging for everyone to stay physically active, but both professional and local sports teams might be feeling it the most right now. As Covid-19 spread globally, public health measures of self-isolation and physical distancing were mandated amongst almost all sports teams. Without much notice, sporting events, regular training, and practices came to a halt suddenly. In their place, many gyms and trainers started to move their businesses online, offering virtual classes to help people stay active while at home. Missing from these classes, though, is the sense of comradery you get from being with your team.

All sports teams and players, regardless of the league or tier, miss playing their sport and being with their teammates. We all know that physical activity is so important for our health and wellbeing, but exercise takes on a whole different meaning when you’re an athlete, and especially a young athlete. For athletes wondering how to stay in shape and stay motivated during Covid-19, a consistent and well-balanced training routine that includes safe exercise, as well as active recovery, is crucial. It is incredibly important for youth sports teams to keep up their training at a time like this to prepare young athletes physically and mentally for peak performance.

It is also important to stay active in times of self-isolation to maintain your mental health. With the cancellation and postponement of most sporting events and competitions, Covid-19 has affected the mental health of numerous athletes, not only as a result of social isolation but also due to the lack of having a regimented routine to follow, which athletes are normally so used to. Finding ways to help athletes and sports teams stay active during Covid-19 is not only necessary for boosting mood, but also providing them with the sense of purpose and connectedness that they are longing for right now. And that is why we decided to launch our #HomeTeamTogether Campaign!

#HomeTeamTogether is an initiative through JOGA World offering complimentary virtual sessions for teams to keep all teams together and moving during this challenging time. It is a way to provide high-level performance training to athletes at home to support their physical and mental well-being under the current global pandemic. By having JOGA coaches offer virtual training sessions for youth sports teams while at home, we aim to inspire sports teams through movement, comradery, and mentorship.

BOOK NOW

THE WHY

“We strongly believe in the power of sport and the connection of athletes. We are truly stronger together.”

Our own JOGA community is made up of athletes, strength and conditioning coaches, fitness trainers, and more, so we know how it feels to be missing your team and sport during Covid-19. Sport in the time of Covid-19 has changed the way we, as athletes and fans, connect to each other and the game. JOGA’s #HomeTeamTogether campaign is meant to deliver a sense of normalcy and motivate athletes by reconnecting sports teams to the game and their fellow players.

THE WHO

The #HomeTeamTogether campaign is for youth sports teams ALL OVER. The special thing about this campaign is that it connects these youth sports teams with pro athletes to provide a sense of mentorship. At the end of a team’s complimentary session, a pro-athlete may come on to speak to the team and give words of encouragement, uniting all the different tiers of sport.

THE HOW

Step 1: Coaches reach out to local sports teams to offer a complimentary session.

Step 2: Teams are led through a JOGA session with a special guest appearance from a pro-athlete.

Step 3: After their session, the team will make a post using #HomeTeamTogether and tagging @joga_world, the coach who led their session, and two other teams, encouraging them to book a complimentary session.

Step 4: Tagged accounts are followed up with to then book their complimentary session.

#HomeTeamTogether Booking Form

Please complete the form below and a member of our #HomeTeamTogether program will be in contact with you to support your request to book Joga training sessions. If you have any questions, please contact us and a member of our team will get right back to you.

JOGA’s partnership with Hockey Canada features full workouts and Moves of the Month designed to strengthen, increase mobility, and aid mindfulness in hockey players of all ages.

Through the Hockey Canada website and Hockey Canada Network app, JOGA and Hockey Canada have been working together to deliver athletes, big and small, the tools they need to be at their best and most balanced.

Like most athletes, hockey players are playing and practice all the time. This goes for young players as well. Many young hockey players are playing five to seven times a week. This means that these athletes are training the same muscle groups again and again.

The danger of training the same muscle groups too often is that you’re paving the way for injury and issues somewhere down the road. Repetitive use of the same muscle groups can lead to overuse injuries, like muscle strains or damage, because of repetitive stress on the body.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to train hard. It is natural, expected even, for athletes off all ages to be determined to get better, optimize performance, and improve their game. The problem lies in the negative effects of overtraining, and especially overtraining the same muscle groups.

Because skills and drills often involve only one side of the body, asymmetry begins to develop in the body. When athletes train only one side of the body, the other side begins to overcompensate. There is no way around it; if you favour one side of the body, that side of the body becomes stronger than the other, which results in muscle imbalances. This overcompensation will almost always lead to injury or pain as the supporting muscles weaken.

Most parents of young hockey players are used to their children complaining about pains in their lower backs or hips. This happens because when one area of the body is either stronger or weaker, or tighter or more mobile than the other, the body is less able to maintain proper alignment or function at its best. Muscle balance and active recovery of overworked muscles is crucial for injury prevention.

With our partnership with Hockey Canada, JOGA is helping teach kids, and even some more experienced athletes and coaches, about body awareness. By addressing how overtraining can not only fatigue muscles, but also how overtraining one side of the body can lead to muscle imbalances, we are helping prevent or reduce the risk of injury and pain moving forward, especially in young hockey players.

Since most athletes actually need to be tight to produce power, explosiveness, and speed, JOGA is not about making athletes flexible. Rather, JOGA is about establishing a balance between strength and mobility, while introducing athletes to the benefits of breathing and relaxation techniques that the science behind traditional Yoga provides.

Both athletes and parents of young hockey players will not only notice how JOGA can fix problems caused by muscular imbalances and weaknesses, but also how JOGA can improve your mindset to make you a better hockey player.

JOGA uses mindfulness and breathing techniques to help players sleep better at night or concentrate before going out on the ice. Once young hockey players see the upside of these tools, that they may have otherwise overlooked, they are more inclined to try them.

We understand that balancing the body or practicing mindfulness may not be second nature to most hockey players, but the more you practice it and the earlier you introduce these valuable tools, the better a player will get at utilizing and benefiting from them. So get to practicing with full JOGA workouts on the Hockey Canada Network app or with the JOGA Move of the Month demonstration videos posted every month on JOGA and Hockey Canada’s accounts!