How Will Youth Sports Return to Play? USOPC Offers Glimpse

Ready or not, America is gradually reopening. When and how community sports joins in is a topic that will play out in the coming weeks and months, shaped by what local and state authorities allow and what leading sport and public health bodies recommend.

USOPC’S PHASED RETURN MODEL

On Wednesday, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) issued the first national guidelines to help sport organizations “return to play” – a phrase you’ll hear a lot in the foreseeable future. A medical review board offered recommendations on returning to training and returning to event planning, both of which suggest it will take considerable time to play organized sports again the way we once did

The guidelines by the USOPC, whose charter from Congress includes a responsibility to coordinate amateur sports activity, are directed primarily at athletes engaged in the Olympic movement and the affiliated, sport-specific national governing bodies of sports whose reach covers millions of athletes, coaches and administrators. But the USOPC noted that the document could be used as a resource for organizations outside the Olympic family.

The USOPC recommends five return to training phases based on local public health requirements:

Phase 1: This occurs when shelter in place is required (where a lot of America currently resides). Individual trainings should only occur in the athlete’s home using his or her own equipment. Coaching should only occur virtually.

Phase 2: This happens when a community lifts shelter in place requirements but continues to prohibit group activities and public training facilities remain closed. Some states are now entering this phase. No coaches or other athletes should be present during individual training. These sessions occur at home or outside while maintaining social distancing and using personal equipment.

Phase 3: This occurs when group activities of less than 10 people are allowed. The USOPC’s group training criteria include: no signs or symptoms of COVID-19 in the past 14 days; live in a training location for 14 days prior to starting group training; and no close contact with anyone who is sick within the previous 14 days. Additionally, the USOPC says two negative COVID-19 tests separated by 24 hours or serology tests demonstrating prior infection but no current infection could be alternatives to return to group training, if the science and testing allow this.

In this phase, participants should use their own equipment and avoid touching each other with their hands. If a ball is being used, make sure only one player is using a specific region of the court and/or basket at a time. The court in that area needs to be cleaned before another player uses the ball in that space to prevent indirect transmission from the ball.

Phase 4: This is when health authorities allow public training facilities to open with no limitations on the group size. Activities with direct contact (such as wrestling) or indirect contact (such as high jump pit and basketball) can resume. Personal protective equipment, such as masks and gloves, are recommended in each of the first four phases.

Phase 5: This is the end game when a vaccine gets developed, which may be in 12 to 18 months, at the earliest. “Until COVID-19 is either eradicated, a vaccine is developed, or a cure is found, there is no way of completely eliminating the risk of fatal infection,” the USOPC said. “This should always be in the forefront of your mind when designing your return to training program.”