体坛英语新闻：Feature: Football clubs provide online training for fans

BERLIN, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Some of the videos might wet people's appetite to join in and get fans practicing in their living room or backyard. Others on the other hand require a certain amount of organizational talent if they are to be copied and came across as entertaining encouragement.

No matter what kind of video that sports fans might want to consume, the variety seems to have no limits in times of increasing coronavirus infection rates in Germany and the rest of Europe, with fans forced to stay home and obey health instructions.

Basketball clubs like Alba Berlin and Telekom Baskets Bonn and the football Bundesliga's RB Leipzig have set up individual sessions for kids of different age groups.

With the help of their mascots, it seems natural to forget school homework, stay away from the TV and gaming.

Former German basketball international Henning Harnisch announced that the Berlin club is going to increase its efforts beyond the "daily sports exercise lesson" and set up a library for digital learning.

The Bonn team and their football-playing brothers in Leipzig are considering similar features.

Second division goalkeeper Fabian Bredlow is counting on mental exercise challenges and skills to keep people's spirits up in hard times. Childlike curiosity seems to have been aroused amongst viewers.

Older age groups might be animated by Werder Bremen's program "Fit with Werder," providing home training lessons for bored fans who otherwise have to watch highlights of previous games to stay in touch with their heroes.

The northern German top tier club has set up a "Bundesliga home challenge." Aching muscles are a probability for everyone brave enough to take on the whole workout.

Bayern Munich stars like Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Mueller, and Manuel Neuer posted their home-training sessions on social media to keep in touch with their supporters.

Mueller not only allowed insight glimpses of his work in the family's horse stable in the little village of Paehl near the Ammersee lake south-west of Munich but started a free meal scheme for volunteers assisting health organizations fighting the virus.

After the police feared a mass rush, the roast pork with potato dumplings and the Schnitzel with potato salat from two local Bavarian restaurants had to be delivered by car to every customer. Over 10,000 orders were distributed.

Several other sports stars, such as former boxing champion Regina Halmich and triathlete Lasse Luehrs have followed the footballers' example.

Halmich produced online sessions together with Swiss pop singer and TV presenter Beatrice Egli while Luehrs showed how to practice swimming without water in the backyard. He placed his legs on a garden chair, his chest on two beer crates, and used a rubber wire hoist to imitate swimming movements.

The exercise devised by the third division footballer Dennis Erdmann might not be suitable for youngsters as it requires investments to be ploughed into equipment - provided the kids are legally allowed to drink in the first place.

The 1860 Munich defender set up a relay between the cellar and the fridge carrying beer bottles and slalom dribbling around others place on the ground. His tactical line up for the next game was less convincing.

The German word for bottle (Flasche) is usually used as a synonym for loser. Erdmann pulled his teammates' legs by using empty beer bottles as replacements for his fellow teammates.