INFLUENCE OF CORONAVIRUS ON SPORTS PARTICIPATION

INFLUENCE OF CORONAVIRUS ON SPORTS PARTICIPATION 

Abstract

In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the disease caused by the SARS-CoV2 virus, known as COVID-19, to be a pandemic. The sporting world, too, is suffering from the global effects of this disease, with the postponement or cancellation of competitions, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. As a proposal for containing the disease, social isolation was declared. Despite the importance of this measure, it was harmful for Olympic athletes, as they had to stay away from their training site and trainers, as well as their interdisciplinary teams. It is therefore important to study this harm caused, in order to minimize it. In general, it is believed that regular physical activity is associated with improved immune system functioning. The lack of training can therefore have significant consequences for the performance and health of the Olympic athlete. From the athlete’s point of view, the impaired immune system, due to the reduced frequency of physical exercise, leaves them more vulnerable to contracting or developing infections or other diseases. The risk of harm due to the decreased performance of preventive works is also evident in this population. The reductions in training load and intensity can cause changes in the athlete’s body composition and affect various aspects of cardiorespiratory fitness, as well as reducing strength levels and muscle potency. In relation to the athlete’s mental health, two aspects are particularly challenging: isolation and uncertainty. Based on the possible harm caused by social isolation, the need is seen for a specific and joint work, in an attempt to minimize it. This work addresses the following topics: (I) context: transmission, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, discharge criteria, isolation and post-pandemic consequences; (II) harm and proposals: nutritional, physiological, biomechanical and psychological.

TABLE OF CONTENT

 

Title page- – – – – – – – – i

Approval page – – – – – – – -ii

Dedication – – – – – – – – -iii

Acknowledgement – – – – – – – -iv

Abstract – – – – – – – – – -v

Table of content – – – – – – – -vi

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION – – – – – – – -1

1.0 Background of the study – – – – -1

1.1 Statement of the problem – – – – -5

1.2 Purpose of the study – – – – – -6

1.3 Significance of the study – – – – -8

1.4 Research questions – – – – – -9

1.5 Scope of the study – – – – – – -10

 

CHAPTER TWO

 

LITERATURE REVIEW – – – – – – -11

CHAPTER THREE

 

Research methodology – – – – – – -39

Design of study – – – – – – – -40

 

CHAPTER FOUR

 

Presentation, analysis and interpretation of data – -48

 

 

CHAPTER FIVE

 

Summary of findings – – – – – – -60

Conclusion – – – – – – – – -61

Recommendations – – – – – – – -62

Suggestions for further research – – – – -64

References – – – – – – – – -65

Appendix I – – – – — – – – -68

Questionnaire. – – – – – – – -69

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background of the study

In December 2019 Wuhan in China reported an outbreak of a SARS-CoV-2 infection that causes COVID-19 disease, identified as an atypical pneumonia (Timpka, 2020). By March 2020 The World Health Organisation (WHO) classified it as a pandemic. To date, the bulk of initial early studies have focused on the sports medicine impacts around athlete training, return post-pandemic and implementation of mass gathering policies for sport (Halabachi, Ahmadinejad and Selk-Ghaffari, 2020; NieB et al., 2020; Timpka, 2020). The social organisation of sport in society, how individuals and groups behave is a core aspect of why government has sport policy. In the UK an increasing focus has been placed on the role sport can play in wider social policy goals such as community capacity building and mental health promotion (Coalter, 2007; DCMS, 2015; Sport England, 2016; Sport England, 2020). This project will aim to explore little understood societal dynamics in the sport and physical activity sector that have resulted from the pandemic. It has already been stated that “collateral consequences of the pandemic will influence sport participation for a long period of time and require effective counter measures” (Timpka, 2020; 4). Specific early implications are around the role of national governing bodies (NGBs) in facilitating and restricting sport participation, what Timpka (2020) refers to as ‘novel arrangements’ for informal physical activity. An example of this is Norwegian FA’s approach to football being around a maximum of participants, all two metres apart. This has not been done in the UK. Finally, there is a range of physiological factors that should be considered alongside sport participation in the context of COVID-19 (Halabachi et al, 2020). Some authors have started to explore the implications of the cancellation of mass sport events, fixture lists and gatherings linked to physical activity (Parnell, Widdop and Bond, 2020). Neither is this new, Blumberg et al. (2016), for example, have explored the impact of the Ebola disease, contact risk and types of sporting events in Africa. It is clear that many professional leagues will be affected, that some countries will experience fluctuations in infection and death rates. However, this sphere of research, alongside the sport medicine domain of research (NieB et al., 2020) are not the focus of this project. Instead, what is currently missing from the existing literature is an awareness of everyday lived realities of citizens that have played sport, are part of physical activity communities and those that run and manage now silent spaces for sport under lockdown. Some initial early research from Sweden has shown that with 36,000 voluntary clubs there is a proposed series of “exit pathways”. Characteristics here include; trial and error nature; country-by-country variations based on conditions and cultures; ‘suppression and lift’ then close down cycles; pleading for individual responsibility and testing of personal freedom balanced with social responsibility (Timpka, 2020a). This project will begin to tease out nuances, behavioural attitudes and multiple meanings attached to government policy and sport. A good comparison here with this Swedish case though is the very different societal, political and 7 ideological context of policy. Operationally we also have 151,000 sports clubs spread over 300 NGBs and 113 recognised sports. The UK is also a country with four devolved governments in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Each having taken very different approaches to the pandemic across largely open borders. As we move into a new period it can be argued that “having endured lockdown, re-opening society is likely to be a long term process around which little scientific consensus yet exists” (Timka, 2020a). Furthermore, whilst implications are considerable around professional and elite sport due their scale (Parnell, Widdop and Bond, 2020), this is perhaps a time when localised micro-politics of behaviour in sport coaching, community delivery and use of facilities has never been on a more level playing field. Australian sports medicine academics have now produced the ABC Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Framework in April 2020. This was set up targeted at the 3 million children and 8.4 million adults cutting across high performance and community sport (Hughes, 2020). But, they also acknowledge a paucity of research in academic journals with athletic populations. The stepped approach to Australian ‘return to sport’ talks of individual restrictions through to small groups (like Sweden) but also factors in a 14-day free of virus symptoms to engage in this sporting setting. Final the level C is a return to full contact, competition and ‘business as usual’. Interestingly, a frightening caveat at the end of the AIS proposal is “understanding that sport must proceed in a cautionary way and must not become a source of community outbreak of COVID-19” (Hughes, 2020; 5).

 

 

Statement of the problem

To develop programmes and policies to effectively facilitate positive outcomes during these unique circumstances, it will be crucial for researchers and practitioners to work together. The effects of this pandemic are being experienced in real-time. As such, researchers and practitioners will need to find creative ways to engage with each other to ensure that we are getting the right information, to the right people, in the right format, at the right time. To achieve this, we can embrace new ways of collaboration, such as harmonized data collection and rapid approaches to knowledge development, synthesis, and dissemination. We can also embrace the value of diverse perspectives and methodological approaches. The number of articles being published on COVID-19 is growing each day. However, we need to find ways of applying that knowledge in real-world settings. Finding ways to quickly synthesize these findings into practical tools that can be used to improve the quality of youth sport will be pivotal. As we move forward, it will be important for researchers and practitioners to develop new ways of capturing the immediate, short-, and long-term effects of this pandemic.

To sufficiently enhance our understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on youth sport development during these timescales (e.g., immediate, short-, long-term), the access to and feedback from key stakeholders (e.g., athletes, parents, coaches, administrators) employed in real-word settings is crucial. For instance, although we subjectively offer key considerations, without the knowledge and collaboration with sports clubs and organizations, the implications of COVID-19 on youth sport with remain inconclusive. Further, since COVID-19 has affected youth sport on a global scale, extensive participant recruitment for large sample sizes will also be required to offer a broad representation and not presume individuals as homogeneous. A potential solution to this issue is the creation of international research groups to explore the implications of COVID-19 on youth sport.

Indeed, in light of this, the authors have collectively begun to collaborate with multiple sports clubs and organizations across the world, to generate a large database for the impending “(Re)Imagining Youth Sport: The COVID-19 Lockdown” project (BCU, 2020). This project is a 3-phase examination of the current and future effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth sports in society, targeted at youth sport parents, coaches, and administrators worldwide. Phase 1 is currently underway and involves an online international survey of three key stakeholder groups (i.e., youth sport parents, coaches, and administrators; currently at ~500 responses from 18 countries across six continents). Phase 2 involves virtual one-on-one qualitative interviews with all three stakeholder groups to explore survey participants’ responses in greater depth. Phase 3 will involve a 6-month follow-up online survey to examine participants’ experiences as youth sport is gradually re-introduced. Taken together, the three phases of the project are framed as a practically-oriented needs assessment to inform future real-world knowledge mobilization efforts by youth sport organizations and their supporting communities.

 

Research question

What has been the impact of Covid-19 on the sport and physical sector in the University of Benin?

How are youth sport stakeholders experiencing the removal of Organized youth sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic?

How, and to what degree (if at all), do these stakeholders want and need youth sports to be different when they return after the pandemic?

 

Aims

To understand current and evolving patterns of sport and physical activity participation, behaviour and impacts on delivery systems due to Covid-19

To explore the direct and indirect impacts of changes in attitudes, beliefs and opinions towards sport and physical activity

To examine potential policy and practice implications around BAME, lower socio-economic groups and gender inequalities from changes in sport and physical activity delivery and opportunities.

Objectives

To share initial data from phase 1 (March 20 – 5 May) between Lancashire, Cheshire, Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to develop insight, understanding and targeted areas of focus;

To undertake a large scale qualitative project in a coordinated strategic research response across 5 regions with Manchester Metropolitan University.

To develop a dissemination plan and online national webinar conference in partnership Active Partnerships and key national partners.

Due to the highly sensitive nature of the project involving critical illness, unemployment, organisational closures/restructuring and lifestyle challenges around mental and physical health the project was approved under a full Manchester Met Ethical framework. Once achieved, all five partnerships were utilised to develop a sample of organisations and individuals for the study. This was a purposive sample, but, also one that very much relied on goodwill of people in highly challenging personal and professional circumstances.

INFLUENCE OF CORONAVIRUS ON SPORTS PARTICIPATION 

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