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'This year is not normal: there is no school football team'

We are inviting young people to describe their lives and the changes around them.

Normally, school footballers would be ecstatic to get back into playing on a regular basis after returning in August, writes Tyler Cutting Quinn

Normally, they would be told who was in their Glasgow Schools Football Association league group and would excitedly begin preparations to battle for the top spot. 

Normally, players would be undergoing weekly training sessions in preparation for every game. 

But this year is not normal: there is no school team at all. 

Due to the COVID restrictions, school football has been suspended since early March until further notice.

What does this means for the footballers at Hyndland Secondary? 

Most significantly, there has been no training or games, restricting opportunities for young people like myself to keep fit. 

During this unfortunate period, I’ve had to find innovative ways of keeping in shape so I am ready for action when school football returns. 

To maintain my fitness over lockdown I gave myself a routine. This consisted of two different ways to maintain fitness: high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and endurance workouts. 

Hyndland Secondary School
Hyndland Secondary School

HIIT workouts are a series of high-intensity exercises to complete within a timeframe, whereas endurance workouts are over a longer period, such as a run or a jog. 

HIIT workouts have been vital for keeping fit and staying prepared for school football’s return, as football consists of constant stopping and starting. 

This is a completely different type of fitness compared to other sports such as running, where you must develop endurance fitness most of the time. 

My routine got me out of bed a little earlier, and I kept the routine flexible to keep me motivated. 

Normally, players would be undergoing weekly training sessions in preparation for every game.

But this year is not normal: there is no school team at all

Tyler Cutting Quinn

If one day I decided I wanted to do a HIIT workout, the next day I would do an endurance workout and vice versa. 

And, of course, on top of all that I had to make sure I maintained a healthy diet so that I could make progress in terms of my physical fitness. 

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