Tivoli focusing on mental health during pandemic

While Tivoli Gardens are following the trend of virtual workouts for their players during the coronavirus pandemic, they are also bonding together in maintaining their mental health.

The Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) has been suspended since March 12 as the western Kingston outfit was restoring their pride by climbing the points table after their struggles in the early season.

Tivoli have not only been assigning workout programmes for their players to keep fit at home, they have used their chat groups as a means in checking on the livelihood of the players during this period. Head coach Phillip Williams says that it has been a great way for the team to bond.

Day-to-day basis

"We have chat groups with them where we talk to them on a day-to-day basis where we share inspirational quotes," Williams told STAR Sports. "We talk about anything that comes to mind where it be anything that they do or they are expressing right throughout the day and we try to share our experiences as a family and listen to each others problems," he said.

Williams says that footballers are not immune to the difficulties that the current health crisis presents and believes the interaction is a healthy way of coping.

"In a group like that, once you have listening ears [about] the stress of not being able to move, not being able to play [then] other family matters will definitely be easier to share. That is what we are using the group for now. "It was initially just for football but now we are trying to support each other in the group and get through this period," he said.