Catching Up From Quarantine:
Catching Up From Quarantine:
Josh Jackson
Since his days at the University of North Florida, Josh Jackson has always been a presence in rugby league in the South. After a few years and a National Championship win in 2012, Jackson chose to play closer to home in Orlando with the Central Florida Warriors. After the team could no longer maintain the organization he returned to his roots with the Jacksonville Axemen and held his position with the team as well as appearances with the USA Hawks. When he’s not entertaining the crowd with the National Anthem on the saxophone before the game, he can be found breaking lines on the field. He always has his biggest fans, his wife and 4 kids to cheer him on.
- How did you spend most of your time last summer without playing rugby league?
“Last summer I spent a lot of time with family, my wife and I had our 4th child and we did a lot of workouts together with Rutcho on zoom to stay in shape and lose the baby weight we both gained.”
2. What has helped you stay sane (or drove you nuts) during the pandemic?
“I stayed sane by getting active in some other activities, I started a touch rugby group with some youth in my local area and it was a great time teaching and introducing them to rugby. It really helped give a social outlet for the students as they were not in school and missed out on their sports seasons but wanted to be/stay active. The best way to get through it all was staying engaged.”
3. How have you been training throughout lock-downs and social distancing?
I have been doing lots of calisthenics and running to stay in shape. I started a workout group with some high schoolers in my local area and we would go out and run and complete Tabata style HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts together. This was fun and motivating, I don’t enjoy working up a sweat on my own and I don’t like running unless a ball is involved so it was great having some others to do it with. I showed them a sneak peak of what I do to stay/keep in shape.
4. Any positive life changes in the past year?
“In the last year I think we all have had a lot of personal growth, the time at home and in quarantine gave us some perspective on what we were doing and what we want to do in our futures. The extra time with family helped us to figure out how we can do life better together.
“We tried our best to stay positive and let that positivity encourage others around us. It really tested our ability to stay connected with people we could no longer spend time with or see. I feel that the last year helped us to foster stronger relationships with those around us.”
5. What do you look forward to most about the upcoming season?
“I look forward this next season to finally being able to play again. I’ve been gearing up to be in shape and hope to have a great season. I am itching for us to be in the national championship game again and coming off with a win!! I know its been some time off but I know we have what it takes to make it happen again! I also am looking forward to getting back with teammates and coaches and staff!!”
