Playing through a pandemic: Youth sports and COVID

Implications

Youth sports allow children to improve their physical fitness and overall health while interacting with their peers and having fun. In the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, many youth sports were suspended, as schools and sports leagues waited for guidance on whether and how to safely proceed. This Mott Poll focuses on August 2020 to Jan 2021, when some youth sports had resumed in-person activity.

Resumption of youth sports required school and sports league officials, along with state and local public health officials, to consider whether children would be able to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission during practices and competitions. While the risk of severe COVID-19 infection is low in children, transmission through youth sports may have serious effects for participants with extenuating circumstances, such as a child or coach with a chronic illness, or for family members of the players. Among parents in this Mott Poll whose child did not participate in a sport, 1 in 3 parents noted that their child’s sport was canceled, while 1 in 4 would not allow their child to participate due to COVID-related safety concerns.

Where youth sports were offered, school and league officials had to create safety protocols accounting for the sport’s setting and ability for players to maintain distance. Some policies were spelled out in state and/or local guidelines. Sports officials also had to communicate about their new COVID-19 policies. In this respect, parents largely felt those efforts were successful. Nearly 90% of parents rated their child’s school or sports league as excellent or good in terms of giving clear information about COVID-19 precautions. The vast majority of parents recalled communication about masking and social distancing requirements for both players and parents, as well as information about when children should sit out due to COVID-19 exposure. Ensuring compliance with COVID-19 protocols was more challenging, with 28% of parents rating the school or sports league as fair or poor in consistent enforcement.

Overall, three-quarters of parents felt their child’s sport mostly got it right in their approach to COVID-19; roughly equal numbers of parents felt officials were too strict vs too lenient. Most parents gave excellent or good ratings for treating children fairly and listening to parent concerns; perhaps parents understood the difficulty of enforcing safety protocols.

In addition to school or league policies, parents should reinforce commonsense actions to minimize COVID-19 transmission during practice and competitions, such as not sharing water bottles or food, and using hand sanitizer during breaks in activity. Parents also should consider their own actions, such as maintaining social distance and wearing masks while attending games.

One area where communication was notably lower was around COVID-19 testing. It is unclear if the lack of information was an oversight or if schools and leagues did not have clear guidelines from public health officials. As more youth sports resume activity, results of this poll indicate that parents will need further direction on whether, when and where their child should get tested. This is particularly important given recent COVID-19 outbreaks among youth sports teams.

Most parents in this poll indicated they received information about when a child could return to play after having COVID-19. Half of parents would involve the child’s doctor in this decision, while forty percent would follow school or league guidelines on the number of days to sit out. Parents of older children were more likely to rely on league guidelines; however, since older children have a greater risk of serious COVID-19 infection than younger children, relying on general guidelines may be unwise. Experts say that return to play should be based on the severity of the infection, whether there is a pre-existing medical condition, and if the child is exhibiting any red flags, such as ongoing fatigue, fever, dizziness or chest pain. If their child contracts COVID-19, parents of young athletes should consult their child’s doctor for specific guidance on resuming sports activity.