From weekly training sessions, matches and socials to running virtual training sessions and hosting zoom quizzes, a lot has changed for our sports clubs due to COVID-19. I caught up with some of the BL Sports Clubs to see what they’ve been up to since March.

Boat

From March to May BLBC had weekly virtual training plans set by the captains that included cardio and workouts from Nike Training Club, zoom yoga sessions and incorporated various weekly challenges such as the men’s squad v the women’s squad distance challenge. In August the club did one month preseason training which was planned by the captains and included both cardio and strength training for members to complete at home. To keep connected the club hosted weekly Netflix party movie nights and weekly zoom quizzes between March and May and hosted their AGM over zoom. To replace their usual 24 hour rowathon, BLBC set a challenge for all members of the club and club alumni to complete a collective 5000km in 7 days either cycling, walking, running or erging to raise money for Barts Charity. They managed to complete a total of 6077.69km and raised £1960 for Barts Charity’s Emergency Covid-19 Fund!

Cricket

During lockdown the club saw an increase in the competitive spirit between their members and they have completed multiple challenges including a week long challenge against BL Tennis which Cricket won, and a Strava fitness challenge between the Barts XI and the Griffins XI (their alumni team) to help them keep fit during lockdown ahead of their upcoming season On top of this, Cricket maintained weekly online socials, and haven’t missed a week yet due to high demand. Online socials have included an 8-ball pool tournament, family feud, virtual tables and even a poker night with their alumni. To raise money for Barts Charity, the club hosted an online poker tournament, raising over £140. To continue raising money they then completed a total running distance of 1477.2km (the distance from Lands End to John O Groats) in 14 days raising a further £300! The club has been able to return to play and has been training hard plus they have played multiple fixtures including their annual match against the Griffins XI and playing for the United Hospitals Plate. They have also been working on developing the club, growing their social media presence with digital campaigns and planning online socials and challenges to keep the club fitness up

Lacrosse

Lacrosse have been hosting weekly online meetings with games such as Pictionary and competed in a Strava challenge against BL Tennis and BL Cricket over 1 week, Lacrosse won covering over 900km between their members in one week!

Men’s Hockey

To keep on top of training, their captain, Ash, has been setting running and circuit training exercises and club members are competing for the fastest 5k and 10k times on Strava. Until they can get back on the pitch on the 5th October, they are hosting zoom circuit sessions. They have also had zoom socials plus hosted their AGM over zoom! BLMHC joined forces with BLWHC to complete a challenge of 3000km in 10days to raise money for Mind. Smashed their goal by completing 3673km and raising £1648!

Netball

Each team had fitness sessions on zoom plus there was a club weekly fitness session that was open to both members and non-members. The club also ran a weekly quarantine checklist with items such as book club, fitness, socials on a Wednesday evening plus more (cleaning, baking, cooking, new activities). The netball book club are currently on their 20th book together and plan to keep going! Netball completed a challenge of 1000km covered between the club over 10 days to raise money for Women’s Aid and were the first BL club to do such a challenge. They completed 1068km and raised a total of £1455! The club also competed in a Strava distance challenge against BL Rugby to see which club could complete the most km in one week with Netball finishing the week victorious.

Running

Running have kept up with their training via virtual road relays, online core workouts and Strava-led training sessions and have had virtual Sunday run coffees to replace their usual in-person coffee sessions at their Sunday runs. They’ve also hosted an online quiz during lockdown. As a club they have had a self-education campaign on Black Lives Matter.

Sailing

Sailing have done online and virtual training on many different theoretical aspects of sailing during lockdown and have also hosted weekly virtual themed socials. Themes included Eurovision, Pride Week, Pirates, Travelling, Committee Fun Facts, which included quizzes, music and a general place to check-in with other club members

Tennis

Tennis hosted virtual socials every Wednesday for the majority of lockdown which had a great turnout. Events have included online pub-quizzes, online games and have also included some new socials such as ‘Would I Lie to You’ and an escape room hosted by club member Harris. Despite being relatively new to regularly running, during lockdown two of the clubs members – Darsh and Amy – both ran 100km each(!) in May to raise money for local charity East London Cares! The charity works to combat social isolation, something which has been heightened during recent months with the Covid-19 pandemic. Darsh and Amy managed to raise an incredible £450 for the charity! To keep members engaged the club have also been participating in Strava competitions against other clubs such as Lacrosse and Cricket. These competitions have given members a challenge to keep up with regular exercise during lockdown.

Women’s Football

BLWFC used the hashtag #keepdistancingsocial to encourage members to undertake a different fitness challenge every day for two weeks, in a drive to keep active and connected and would shout-out to their favorite use of the hashtag each day The club hosted their first anti-racism discussion group on zoom where they discussed Layla Saad’s ‘Me and White Supremacy’. They plan to continue hosting these monthly and hope to do so in person soon and incorporate films and will be announcing the details on Instagram

Women’s Hockey

BLWHC ran online fitness sessions on zoom during lockdown, these were each hosted by different members of the club and in August the captains of each team ran a zoom preseason. In addition to this they had weekly zoom quizzes during March and April hosted by two of the clubs members, the quizzes had great attendance and was a really fun way for the club to keep in touch and socialize despite the distance. The club completed a distance challenge to complete 1000km in 10 days by either running/cycling/walking to raise money for MIND charity. Their original goal was 1000km in 10 days but they quickly smashed this target and upped their goal to 3000km in 10 days! Their total distance was 3673km and they raised £1648 for Mind. This challenge was completed with their alumni and with Men’s Hockey