Sporting "challenges" and cyber training to combat boredom

"JenaVsVirus" camp develops creative ideas for Jena's children's and youth sports clubs

The playgrounds have been open again since Monday, but children and young people are still a long way from a normal everyday life. In addition to school, there is a lack of regular sporting activities such as soccer or table tennis clubs. So how can young people become active in sports clubs despite the lockdown? The digital JenaVsVirus camp in April developed various approaches to this question. In mid-April, over 180 participants in this digital project developed solutions for current coronavirus challenges in Jena.

One of the teams led by Jena software developer Dr. Lutz Kohl looked at the question of how club life can be maintained in times of social distancing. To this end, the team conducted a quick survey of ten volunteer sports coaches. The result:

Many of the volunteers stated that cyber training - i.e. training with a digital device - is a good way to encourage children and young people to exercise more while maintaining club life,

said Dr. Lutz Kohl. However, the trainers lacked ideas for training sessions and instructions on how to use the technology.

This is why the JenaVsVirus project team first compiled an overview of tutorials - explanatory videos - and possible training content. The Zwätzen D soccer youth team acted as "test rabbits" and successfully completed these training units.

In a next step, the content was made available to all clubs via the Jena Municipal Sports Association,

said Dr. Lutz Kohl.

Challenges to combat boredom

What else goes down well with children and young people? Clearly, social media and the opportunity to take part in so-called "challenges" - entertaining sporting tasks. Participants film themselves and post the solution to the sporting task online on social media. In this way, children and young people motivate each other to take part - creating a competitive spirit for the best execution of the training session.

The "Club Life" project team also wanted to give coaches a comprehensive overview of the countless online sports training sessions.

We have created an extensive list that can be filtered by interests and sports and contains detailed rules and descriptions,

says Kohl, who has a doctorate in computer science. This can be easily shared via messaging service or e-mail. A total of 100 indoor and outdoor challenges in various areas such as coordination, badminton, athletics and soccer are now available on the ZusammenAlleinImVerein portal .

When asked about his favorite challenge, Dr. Kohl replies:

"Shuttlecock target shooting" - this requires nothing more than a badminton racket, a ball and three containers of different sizes, which are placed on the floor three to four meters away. The aim is to hit all three containers in succession with as few attempts as possible.

The video instructions are available on YouTube.

Cooperation with the Stadtsportbund Jena e. V.

The resulting platform was handed over to the city sports association, which immediately took up the idea and encouraged the city's clubs to join in. The new platform is also maintained here and new challenges are integrated. Kevin Salewski, Sports Coordinator at Stadtsportbund Jena e.V., is delighted with the initiative:

'We were immediately impressed by the implementation of the project. The tutorials are easy to understand and can be implemented immediately, even without prior knowledge. The challenges are very motivating and encourage people to take part. The Jena sports clubs already have access to the tutorials and challenges and will hopefully continue to use them after the crisis.

An overview of all projects can be found at #JenaVsVirus.