The U17s (Juvenil ) show how they have started training individually outside following the guidelines on social distancing and hygiene

Villarreal CF academy players have taken a step forward in their training routine and since last week have started to do exercises outside their homes, after more than a month and a half of work at home due to the state of alarm called by healthcare authorities in March, leading to lockdown.

After the government authorising individual exercise outside, the Yellows Academy coaches got to work to design a new training plan for their players, including running exercises with the aim of slowly returning to get into the rhythm after more than forty days at home.

All of this is happening with the maximum precaution possible and under the strict social distancing and hygiene guidelines recommended by healthcare authorities while exercising: “We’ve especially highlighted the importance and the need to follow the guidelines to the players. To maintain safety at all times, we study each player’s situation, whether they live in a city or a village, and we take everything into account to plan their training routine outside,” explains Álex Pegueroles, one of the Villarreal U17s (Juvenil B) coaches, who are putting in commendable work these months.

To monitor the players training sessions, the U17s coaching staff are using a sporting performance application, which gives them all sorts of data about the outside sessions: the route, the average speed and even the area where they have decided to go out to run. “At the moment, we are starting with low workloads so that the boys slowly gain rhythm. The outside runs are being combined with strength works at home,” said Jordi Benavant, one of the other U17s coaches.

Staying at home isn’t easy for a young athlete, one who is used to the ball and hard work at the Villarreal CF Training Ground (Ciudad Deportiva). It’s crucial that players stay motivated for the development of the training sessions during this time. The coaching staff have worked intensely to try and adapt the tasks to make them suitable and enjoyable. They have hailed how their players adapted: “It wasn’t an easy situation for them and they have put a lot in to continue the dynamic. They are committed and you can see they’re keen to train and they are getting great results,” explains Vicent Masià.

Despite lockdown, the players have continued to work on their individual objectives, carrying out video analysis from games every week to try and focus on certain details on the pitch. This means the youngsters almost continue the way they were working before lockdown: “They have a flexible schedule which is adjusted to each of their individual situations, but we have tried to make them all follow a routine similar to what they were doing before lockdown.”