High School Sports: It will take time and effort, post-pandemic, for some sports to rebuild participation

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However and whenever we emerge from this global pandemic, amateur sport organizations would do well not to rest on their laurels and expect the same level of interest to magically return post-pandemic.

SDSSAA has some experience in this regard.

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High School Sports: It will take time and effort, post-pandemic, for some sports to rebuild participation Back to video

Whenever a sport hasn’t been offered for an extended period of time, whether it be due to job action or, more commonly, a coaching transitional period, the return to historical levels of participation tends to be more of a slow burn for some sports, than a wildfire for others.

Simply put, if a sport was suffering from reduced participation before the pandemic hit, the chances of a full recovery upon a return to normal times are not very good, at least in the short term.

Some continuation of activities, therefore, even during a pandemic and even if on a much smaller scale, can only help mitigate what we might refer to as a pandemic hangover.

Be assured however, like the law of nature, the strong will survive. Mainstream high schools sports like basketball, cross-country running, volleyball, soccer, badminton, swimming and track and field are sure to see spikes in participation post-pandemic, but others, like wrestling, football, tennis and gymnastics, will likely have some work to do to build back their participation bases.

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Sadly, many of the students participating in the at-risk sports are single-sport athletes, meaning that if these inter-school sports don’t manage to claw back, they won’t get any chance to participate, period.

Let’s face it — participating in and excelling at high school sports, though fun, can be hard work. A high level of commitment and dedication is required to be competitive and this means time and focus that, during the pandemic, were pointed in other directions.

Teacher-coaches and phys-ed leaders will have to ramp up efforts to promote the benefits of participation to budding student-athletes that would be well served with a reminder or two.

A strong belief in the benefit of participation in sport, combined with a love of sport all their own, will most certainly spur them on in this regard.

High school notes

Next week will mark the end of the fall sport season with the Pool 1 senior boys volleyball playoffs scheduled.

Just four days later, the deadline for submission of winter sport surveys arrives. Shortly after that, sport committees will meet and ponder what competition might look like upon the return from the Christmas break.

As of the date of publication, the local winter lineup will include girls and boys curling, alpine and Nordic skiing, snowboarding, girls volleyball and possibly gymnastics. Sports in training mode only as of this date include badminton, boys basketball, boys and girls hockey, swimming and wrestling.

Just recently, badminton was removed from the competition list due to a published change in PSO gathering limits. Should a sport be added to gameplay status after next week, schools will be consulted about their possible interest in the activity at that time.

Dave Makela is the athletic administrator for the Sudbury District Secondary Schools Athletic Association. His column appears weekly during the high school sports season.