THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON GRASSROOTS SPORTS

Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 2020

As COVID-19 hit in the Spring of 2020, substantial challenges began to emerge for individuals around the world. In this empirical piece we examine the impacts of COVID-19 in the sport for development (SFD) context, as it relates to the individual participant, as well as how those individual needs impact the organization itself. This case study, explores a hybrid SFD organization, Highway of Hope (HOH) in Kenya, and the actions of local leadership in response to emergent participant needs during the onset of the pandemic. Using a case study approach, involving journal responses from program youth participants and local program leadership, along with other field and meeting notes, themes were generated to highlight the most salient challenges and experiences faced by individual participants, as well as the means of addressing those challenges by HOH. Participant journals consisted of both positive and negative thematic findings. Positive experiences included Family Time, Rest, and Pra...

International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics

The Covid-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on society, leading to a rapid closure of businesses, places of work, worship, social engagement, schools and universities. Sport is often seen-along with the arts-as a trivial pursuit, categorised under 'hobbies' or things to do once the serious business is over. However, this critical commentary argues that sport and sports events play a crucial social role even under normal circumstances. To this end we analyse the impact of Covid-19 on three areas of sport: first, the nature of elite sport played 'without spectators' is discussed and what this means for the necessary 'feelgood' factor associated with watching and following it; second, we look at Covid's impact on the provision of sport for those in less well-off areas, drawing on a case study of Oldham during the pandemic. Finally, we analyse the severe economic and social impact of the pandemic on grassroots sports, including the relationship between mass and elite sport. This commentary seeks to stimulate wider interest on how Covid-19 has changed sport at elite and grassroots level and how the pandemic has led to differential outcomes for people from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds. Based on the above, the commentary assesses the likely longterm consequences of the Coronavirus pandemic on sport.

European Journal for Sport and Society

These are extraordinary times. Less because we are currently in the midst of a global pandemic; humanity has been here multiple times in the past, sometimes with even more devastating results (the 'Black Death' of 1346-1353, or Cocolitzli Epidemics in the 16th Century, for example). Rather, these are extraordinary times due to both the huge shutting down of industry, travel and borders, and the enormous level of coverage and discussion of the crisis through both traditional and social media formats (Stevens & Prins, 2020). Moreover, global, regional and national comparisons and discussions have become commonplace with regards to everything from healthcare preparedness and the social response to financial pressures, work-life balance considerations and environmental concerns. Perhaps as a consequence, pop-up 'experts' on the characteristics of the virus, its real (and imagined) socioeconomic , cultural and social impacts, and what it might mean for the future have filled our television and computer screens, the airwaves and social media feeds. Experts, professionals and others from fields as diverse as psychology, economics and politics continue to provide such commentary, and a frankly enormous volume of 'COVID-19 0 related content has begun to fill the print and electronic pages of our existence. Such content is also now beginning to focus upon the implications of the virus for sport, exercise and physical activity. Nevertheless, we note whilst much has been said about the present and future impact of this pandemic, much less is known. Indeed, biomedical, socio-cultural, economic and political trends associated with the response to the pandemic are only now beginning to emerge. At the time of writing, much of the global workforce sits in-or is beginning to emerge from-isolation. According to the regular press conferences and updates provided by the governments of our countries, politicians, scientists and others are currently attempting to manage a response to the pandemic. One key consideration has been how to maintain balance between interdependent health and economic risks, resulting in an ongoing debate about how long the shutdown can be maintained before economic collapse becomes inevitable. This debate has been particularly vociferous (even bordering on civil disobedience or social unrest) in countries with minimal welfare support for the most needful. Such discussions have been characterised by increased urgency as the contagion has caused many industries to slow, move online or even come to a full halt for a period of weeks, if not months. What's more, the personal impact of this 'lockdown' is also only just now beginning to emerge. Whilst some people continue to attempt to balance working from home with childcare and other responsibilities, others have had their income reduced or even lost their employment. Conversely, many people in 'essential jobs,' including medical professionals and those working to maintain the food supply, continue to risk their health in an attempt to limit the impact of the pandemic and to support the wider population. The Academy has raced to respond, particularly in the fields of medicine and economics. Multiple 'rapid reviews' of medical evidence have been conducted as evidence about the effects of the virus has emerged in order to maximise treatment effectiveness and risk management (e.g.

2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the lives of children around the world in a variety of domains. A total of 188 countries have closed their schools in response to the pandemic which is estimated to have resulted in over 1.5 billion children missing a significant period of education (United Nations 2020a). Further, it is estimated that an additional 42-66 million children will be in extreme poverty as a result of the pandemic (United Nations 2020a). This paper focuses on the potential impacts of COVID-19 on children associated with sport. It was compiled based on the input of 37 experts and practitioners in the fields of child rights, protection, and safeguarding in sport. In addition to facilitating an exchange of information on the topic, it brings together observations and concerns for the consideration of decision makers and others with influence over policies, resource allocations and programming related to children and sport as the world builds back from the pandemic. This includes those in sports organisations, national and local governments, intergovernmental entities, international agencies, donor agencies, civil society organisations and community based organisations The key impacts are discussed in four main areas: (1) ongoing sport, (2) the absence of sport, (3) children in vulnerable and special situations, and (4) future impacts and concerns. The paper further considers perspectives of children, opportunities, and provides a call for action. It is important to emphasise that empirical evidence regarding potential ongoing and future impacts is limited and that further investigation and research is required on a range of topics addressed in this paper.

Emerald Open Research

This conceptual / study protocol paper provides important context around the role of sport in Australia where sport provides aspects of community agency through participation, organisation and volunteerism. It provides a descriptive analysis of how sport assists young people in developing physical and mental “fitness” through its community orientation. However, it also provides discussion around the potential of a “generation lost” to sport as a consequence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The conceptual nature of this paper means that the data collection underpinning this research has not yet been conducted. However, given that we have applied for human research ethics along with having accrued sporting clubs and organisations eager to be involved in the research, we are planning to roll out this research by mid 2020. The design will be based on mixed methods approach whereby large-scale surveys together with focus groups and interviews will be central to the re...

BMC Public Health, 2021

Background: COVID-19 continues to represent the single biggest challenge to contemporary community sport globally. Compliance with social distancing policies, strict return-to-play protocols, and COVID-19 specific training has, perhaps, forever changed the way that children and young people engage in organised sport. Within this context, and while many children and families seek to re-engage with community sport, we (researchers and sport practitioners) have an obligation to ask questions about how the pandemic has impacted youth sport, understand the short-and long-term consequences, and explore what (if any) opportunities can be seized to assist and improve future participation and retention. The aim of this paper was to present an in-depth exploration of the impact of COVID-19 on youth sport in South Australia. Methods: Within an interpretive descriptive methodology, this qualitative investigation draws on rich, individual interview and focus group data with 39 youth (ages 15-18), parents, coaches, and sport administrators. A reflexive thematic analysis was undertaken, leading to the development of four substantive themes. Results: We conceptualised the '4 Rs' to advance theoretical understandings about the pandemic's impact on youth sport, including the themes 'recognising struggle', 'reconnection', 're-engaging after restrictions, and 'reimagining sport'. The themes captured insights about a decline in mental wellbeing and physical activity, an increase in family connectedness, the challenge for sports to attract volunteers and participants back into sport, and the opportunities to reset values and philosophies underpinning the provision of youth sport.

Journal of Sociology, 2020

The Covid-19 global pandemic posed a particularly acute problem for sport. Although there was massive sectoral disruption in areas like higher education, music, and tourism, sport is unusually dependent on commercial media-financed, impossible-to-repeat live events performed before large co-present crowds that form a key part of the spectacle for the many times larger, distant audiences using an expanding range of screens. Covid-19 exposed the inner workings of sport as a machine that could be disabled by its own global interdependency. The compulsive generation of inequalities of class, 'race'/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, ability, space, and so on resulting from the advanced commoditisation and consequent hierarchisation of contemporary global sport, created the structural imbalance and vulnerability that Covid-19 has mercilessly punished. This article applies a sociological analysis to sport before, during and after the pandemic, arguing that an emphasis on the relationships between human rights and cultural citizenship is required to improve the social institution of sport. It argues that if sociology does not play a key role in reforming sport after Covid-19, then it will have lost the moral compass that first guided the discipline in early modernity when the institution of sport emerged.

European Sport Management Quarterly, 2021

One of the enduring questions gripping scholars is the nature of sport's ubiquity. What makes sport so compelling for so many despite the many tensions surrounding its expression? To make the conundrum more complicated, we have witnessed a seemingly inexhaustible growth in sport's reach and scope, including as a source of recreational pastime, organised participation, fanatical devotion, and media spectacle. At the same time, sport's immense entertainment, recreation, and media fringes have exploded, spanning from competitive eating to esports. Sport undoubtedly occupies a non-trivial place in the economic, social, and cultural fabric of almost every part of the globe , as billions discovered when the COVID blackout struck. In the midst of the pandemic, participants and followers endured unmatched restrictions, the absence of sport's myriad of forms a sobering but insightful window into the significance of a taken-for-granted lynchpin in daily life. For participants, the physical impacts disappeared along with a suite of pro-social benefits. Fans mourned the temporary death of vicarious identities and lamented the banality of an endless off-season. Players did calisthenics on the couch, leagues wrestled with risk and reward, teams raced to replace live sport with digital drama, sponsors sank into obscurity, broadcasters re-packaged, and the media recorded it all going by. Simultaneously, digital fitness exploded, esports triumphed, online gaming won the lottery, and the 2020 summer Olympics and European Football Championships made it to the starting line in 2021 . As the two ESMQ special editions on COVID-19 have revealed, unflappable sport scholars responded by posing some poignant questions and by collecting never before available data. In volume one of ESMQ's COVID-19 special edition, we noted some recurring themes that sport and its managers faced during the pandemic. A first related to the tensions around risk for sport enterprises, which were entrusted with safeguarding the health and safety of their athletes and fans, but at the expense of the brand value and resulting cashflow that had been accumulated over decades. While sports and their constituent teams scrambled to maintain some form of engagement with their audiencesoften through digital channelsfans expected greater social responsibility from their favoured brands. Whether for manufacturers, leagues, clubs or players, ethics and social

Physical Activity and Health Aspects of COVID-19 Pandemic, 2021

Particularly focused in Catalonia region, this article draws from a study carried out in order to show the impact of COVID-19 pandemic measures for sport schools in the region. The article also wants to highlight the enormous challenges that sport schools have faced and is going to face due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic emergency measures. Following government calls for general public isolation, school sporting associations, sport for all and other amateur organisations have gone through the longest period of inactivity since the re-establishment of democracy. Having the potential participants locked down at home, it has forced professionals to explore new ways to connect with them. Public sector has joint in, raising awareness on the risk of inactivity and imposing a range of restrictive measures that have impacted sport, especially the one related to schools and grassroots levels. The situation has obliged one of the major School Sport organisations in Catalonia (UCEC) to reinvent strategies in order to survive and keep providing sport initiatives to more than 200.000 scholars and young adults across the region.

Italian Sociological Review, 2021

The recent pandemic generated by COVID-19 has changed how sports are habitually practised, necessitating a form of at-home sport to enable practitioners to continue exercising and training. This also touches upon how sports are ‘delivered', with home-based consumers having control over the times, ways and spaces given to sport, as transmitted by digital means. During lockdown, opportunities to take advantage of apps and content and/or follow online lessons on social networks notably intensified. These changes in sports practice generate a series of research objectives, to determine: how digital media has created a new environment for socializing and sports practice;how digital devices are used to play home sports;and which players encourage people to exercise at home. With these objectives in mind, a two-phase research was launched at the SapienzaSport centre. The first questioned a group of about 600 practitioners, with a relatively high cultural and socioeconomic level along w...