Posted at 5:00 a.m.
After a month off, hundreds of thousands of young Quebec athletes will be able to resume group training on January 31.
They will, however, be limited to 25 people at a time and will not yet be able to participate in matches, competitions or tournaments. But the president of the Quebec Student Sports Network (RSEQ), Gustave Roel, is confident: “The first step before a game is training. »
The resumption of indoor sports activities is, for the moment, reserved for those under 18 and for student-athletes in the context of extracurricular activities. Adults will have to wait for the announcement of new relaxations before going to gyms and sports centers.
“For us, this is good news, a first start towards a return to a certain normality”, says Gustave Roel.
We have been asking for a long time to allow young people to find themselves in teams in order to be able to play sports in a safe manner, and also to give them the desire to return to an educational institution.
Gustave Roel, President of the Quebec Student Sports Network
“Positive Opportunity”
After an almost normal autumn when young athletes were able to train and participate in matches and competitions, the 2021 sports year came to an abrupt end at the end of December with the cancellation of all activities on the calendar. If the athletes registered in a sports-study program were able to resume training when they returned to class on January 17, all the others were still waiting for the green light from Quebec to jump into the arena. According to the RSEQ, more than 220,000 student-athletes will be able to resume their activities.
And the resumption of training is, in itself, a “positive opportunity” for young athletes, insists Gustave Roel. “They’ve been off for almost a month and a half,” he said. It would not have been logical, he adds, to immediately resume competition since many of them are not ready. The limit of 25 people per group will not be a problem for the majority of activities, says Roel.
At a press conference on Tuesday, the acting national director of public health, Dr.r Luc Boileau, indicated that “ideally”, athletes should wear a mask during sports activities. However, it does not make it a condition for the resumption of activities.
Young people testify
Catherine Champagne, Dynamiques basketball team, Cégep de Sainte-Foy
PHOTO STEVE ROY, PROVIDED BY CÉGEP DE SAINTE-FOY
Catherine Champagne
“I’m really happy that we can at least start training again. It gives hope for the resumption of matches. Fingers crossed that it continues to go well, but in the meantime, it will just be good to be able to see the girls on my team again. I’m rusty! Home workouts are not really comparable to gang workouts. Yesterday, I was throwing alone at my basket, it had been three or four weeks since I had touched a ball… I am disappointed that the matches and tournaments are not resuming right away, but at the same time, we have to first get back in shape to avoid injury. »
Zachary Bérubé, Sainte-Foy Taekwondo Club
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ZACHARY BÉRUBÉ
Zachary Berube
“I’m happy to be back in training, even if I’m a little disappointed not to be back in competition. That’s still what we train for… At least we’ll be able to train in a more concrete way while waiting. I’m not too rusty, I train about six days a week. A few of us are under 18, but the majority of club members are older. Eventually, we can all see each other. »
Évelyne Choquet, Gym-Plus gymnastics club, Mirabel
PHOTO SÉBASTIEN PRINCE, PROVIDED BY ÉVELYNE CHOQUET
Evelyne Choquet
“The new announcements do not change much for me since in the sport-studies program, I had already resumed training on January 17. But I would have really liked competitions to be allowed in February. Competitions allow me to push further, to improve, to be proud of myself. In hockey, they have matches every week, but in gymnastics, we have few competitions, maybe only three in the year. In addition, there is little contact between us. It annoys me that all sports, individual or team, are treated the same way. »
Gabrielle Leclerc, Taekwondo Performance club, Trois-Rivières
PHOTO ÉRIC DUQUETTE, PROVIDED BY GABRIELLE LECLERC
Gabrielle Leclerc
“Fortunately, I was able to train with my sister and I have a good coach. Now I will be able to train with other people, like before. We are a dozen athletes in my club. But it is sure that the motivation is not the same without the competitions. In other countries they never really stopped training, so for sure they are ahead of us. Normally, I devote 12 to 15 hours a week. I started at the age of 6, I am 17 today. In short, this is good news because sport is not just a passion, it is something that we really need in our lives. »
As of January 31:
- Indoor civil sports or leisure activities, including lessons, authorized for young people under 18 years of age.
- In schools, student-athletes (even if they are over the age of 18) will have access to training facilities.
- Activities limited to 25 people.
- • No matches, competitions or tournaments. Workouts only.
- Compulsory vaccination passport for people aged 13 and over.
- Outdoor sports and leisure activities permitted without restriction.