May 8, 2020 – The coronavirus pandemic may have temporarily stopped football, but it has not prevented footballers from exercising. The Croatian Football Federation offered video training to young football players daily, and after 35 published videos, the great success of the #vježbajdoma project is visible and easily measurable.
Through the #vježbajdoma (#exerciseathome) project, HNS wanted to encourage young football players to use their free time for physical activity and improve their abilities during this extraordinary situation.
Workout videos that can be performed at home, without additional devices and aids, were published daily, and among the videos were doctors’ instructions on healthy eating as well as advice on a psychological approach to these unusual circumstances.
The video was created by Croatian senior and young national team members in football, fitness experts, coaches, coaches, and experts from other fields such as medicine and psychology, as well as several other football players from many clubs.
“From the bottom of my heart, I thank all those who participated in creating this training because we showed really great unity in wanting to bring the knowledge, skills and experience of top coaches and footballers to our large base. Many thanks to everyone who practiced with us. Finally, I would like to thank our video analyst Nikola Buzadžić, who put a lot of effort into editing these works that have lasting value for the HNS and young footballers. I am glad that in this way, we help athletes stay in shape, but I know that everyone can’t wait to return to the football fields. I hope that the epidemiological situation in the country will allow us to do that relatively soon, and until then – we will continue to practice at home,” said HNS chief instructor Petar Krpan.
The final figures are truly impressive. Thirty-five trainings were published on four HNS channels: YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, with videos viewed more than a million times. On YouTube and Facebook alone, the total viewing time is more than 5,500 hours, and on Facebook and Instagram, the videos have garnered nearly 200,000 “likes”.
“We were aware that more than 100,000 young football players were left without daily training and we wanted to encourage them to exercise as much as possible at home, in a quality way. That is why we have included great fitness trainers from all parts of Croatia and I thank everyone for agreeing to share their knowledge via video. We have also included a number of our famous footballers, as well as indoor soccer players, to inspire further those who practice with us. All recorded training will remain available on HNS channels for everyone who wants to continue training according to such high standards,” said Ivan Krakan, HNS fitness instructor for junior national teams, who initiated the project with chief instructor Krpan.
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