Positive response from players and parents as training resumes for Caithness United
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Youth football club Caithness United enjoyed a “superb” return to training at the weekend after the easing of lockdown.
The club's two age groups, under-13s and under-15s, had been working on their skills and fitness individually over the past four months thanks to challenges and drills provided by their coaches.
For the first post-lockdown session on Saturday the boys were split by location rather than age, so the players from the Thurso side trained at the Dammies and those from the Wick side were at the town's Bignold Park.
The sessions were run with two “bubbles” of 10 players, with two coaches looking after each bubble.
Coach Steve Bain said: “For all the coaches and players, getting back to training was superb.
“The club has kept in touch with everyone during the pandemic via Zoom and text but that pales into insignificance compared with outdoor face-to-face training while socially distancing.
“There was a wee bit of anxiety about coming back to training as we have a duty of care to our players, so we have to ensure we are doing everything we can to minimise any risks.
“Throughout the weeks leading up to Saturday the committee and coaches held online meetings to ensure we all knew what we had to do.
“The key things are all the players enjoyed the training and we adhered to the guidelines. The feedback from the players, through their parents, has been positive about the training and the coaches were delighted to take another step forward towards normal.
“Fingers crossed we can increase the bubble size soon and get the trial process started for selecting our under-13 and under-15 squads and prepare for what football we can get in the 2020/21 season.”
Steve said the players all accepted the “new normal” of hand-sanitising before training and after training.
Under the latest easing of Scotland's lockdown, contact sports can take place for children and young people under 18, subject to guidance.
