Rugby ATL Squad Continues to Grow Through Shelter-In-Place

With social distancing orders still in effect, our players at Rugby ATL are doing their part.

Organized by our Director of Athlete Performance Matt Dallow, many of our now home-based players have been training individually for the past three months. Though the current circumstance is unusual, the process of training, despite working from home, has been standardized. 

The group has been using technology to record daily check-ins, to follow prescribed workout plans, and to track weekly progress. For most of the team, the first few weeks of the quarantine were confined to bodyweight exercises, or using whatever home equipment was available to each individual, before an opportunity for our players staying in the 404 to come in and take some weights away in advance of Georgia’s shelter-at-home order.

Now, in mid-June, with select business sectors granted reopening, players that have stayed in the Atlanta area are again able to attend gym sessions at our headquarters, as coaching and staff resumed taking all possible precautions against any potential spread of the disease. 

Setting group limits, washing hands, phones, keys before and after the workouts, isolating the cardio bay and lifting platforms, and cleaning down equipment after use are all a part of the new daily process to take part in provisional organized team workouts.

In congruence with our physical well being, mental health awareness and improvement is also at the forefront of our effort to Push the PACE. Our players have access to support systems, through the daily check-ins and interactions with trainers, to ask for help if necessary. Players and coaches have weekly virtual meetings: to review gameplay, discuss strategy and technique, and gain information on a variety of topics, like nutrition choices and financial planning.

It’s been almost 3 months since the MLR season’s cancellation on March 19th, but that hasn’t stopped the Rugby ATL players and staff. By practicing social distancing, we do our part to flatten the curve, and by staying disciplined to living our core values, we continue to #PushThePACE.