Is e-training a successful method for athletes during covid-19? an answer based on a case study

The Covid 19 pandemic changed and reorganized all areas of human activities. The same thing also happened in performance sports at one team which start the season with a severe performance objective. The main changes concerned the training methods, which was not carried out in the usual way because people lived in a lockdown and used virtual apps for practice. That was a way of practicing training imposed by sanitary norms. Some athletes have presented illness symptoms, and they took medicine. The impact on athletes of the pandemic has been studied and explored to a small extent by researchers. Also, the training has been scarcely innovated by adopting new models of teaching and learning. This study will present some innovative methods concerning the online training practiced by a football team using different technologies offered by WEB.2.0. Football is one of the most popular sports in Romania and worldwide, and the spectators have many expectations from the clubs as well from the players. Therefore, a large number of supporters took place in the stands. Because of this, among players, the risk of COVID-19 infection was high. We have studied and interpreted a case study concerning a Romanian football team where 16 players and staff members were infected with the COVID-19 virus. The football players remained in isolation in different periods, and the coach led the training through virtual platforms. After describing the case study scenario, we will show the results of a survey administered to the players involved. After analyzing and interpreting the data, we will answer whether and to what extent virtual platforms are really innovative and useful tools to achieve the sports training goals during the athletes' isolation.