Fruta Conquerors doing their part to flatten covid-19 curve

Apr 16, 2020 Sports

Head coach of the two-time defending Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Elite league Champions, Fruta Conquerors Football Club (FCFC); Sampson Gilbert, during an interview with Kaieteur Sport, shared that he believes that his club plays a big role in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic locally.

Coach Gilbert conducting a female training session.

Coach Sampson Gilbert (extreme right) poses with Fruta Conquerors senior team.

“We called off all our sessions based on the recommendations of FIFA, Concacaf and the GFF. We are the elite league champions and if we continue to train, other clubs may follow us because competition will be at the back of their heads. Early on, I thought that we should desist but that wasn’t the general consensus with the staff at the club but the decision was made nevertheless,” Coach Gilbert noted.
The Tucville based club’s boss added that, “Conquerors alone won’t be affected, it’s the entire world and as a leading club we have a social responsibility to set examples for everyone, especially the youths. I have heard that persons are still gathering and playing, we need to stop that immediately. We will get back to the game, it won’t be like this forever but we first need to survive.
“I have been connecting with my football family through social media to share useful information and to encourage them to keep the fight against this horrible disease going. I have been urging them to practice social distancing and keep sanitizers with them always, as has been advised by health officials.”

Coach Sampson Gilbert lifting the elite league championship trophy.

Following the triumph over coronavirus, things will go back to normal, including regular football competitions and the coach’s advice for all players is do physical training exercises to maintain a certain level of fitness, “You can jog but it’s important to not gang up, social distancing is ideal. Calisthenics and Plyometric exercises, abdominals, wall passes and drills are all useful things that can be done on your own.”
The coach stressed the importance of calisthenics since it helps to maintain aerobic fitness and it can be done in a confined area. Calisthenics are body mastering exercises that are done to develop strength, Balance, control, flexibility and mobility inclusive of squats, frog hops, push and pull-ups and short sprints.
Meanwhile, Plyometric exercises can also be used for fitness in small spaces. Those exercises include jumping, skipping, hopping, bounds and leaps.
The coach divulged that wall passes could be used to maintain and/sharpen techniques i.e. Passing and receiving a ball against a wall in your yard or confined space.
The coach believes that Fruta Conquerors will still be competitive following the pandemic based primarily on the large pool of players both youth and senior with impressive numbers from the grassroots level right up in both male and female divisions.
The coach concluded that, “We don’t only play football at Conquerors, we look at the holistic development of players by imparting life skills as a major part of their development, counseling, etiquette, leadership skills, conflict resolution and useful life skills to help you be a rounded individual.
“A youngster may not turn out to be a good footballer but just being in this environment he should be able to benefit with some of the mentioned skills, that is part of our aim.” (Calvin Chapman)

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