By: Ava Kreibel
There is no doubt that the past seven months have been a time period full of uncertainty for America, along with the rest of the world. This pandemic has presented a unique situation which called for a unique response. We have all become much more creative and flexible in order to adapt our daily lives to social distancing. One of the biggest challenges of trying to adapt to this “new normal” has been finding ways to practice sports safely. While the pandemic started off with many sports around the world—of all levels—being shut down, a large number of teams have since come up with plans to restart their seasons and make accommodations for players. Here’s a general look at how the Olympics, the major sports leagues in the U.S., and local school sports here in Pennsylvania have been affected by COVID-19 and how they are dealing with it.
This year has been historic for the Olympics. 2020 is the first year that the Olympics have been postponed or cancelled since World War II and the first time that the Olympics have been postponed for a reason other than war. Regardless of the uncertain times, however, the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics have not been cancelled altogether, and they are fully expected to happen in the summer of 2021. Seiko Hashimoto, the Japanese Olympic minister, said last month that the games will happen next summer “at any cost”—even if the virus is still active. In fact, according to Tohsiro Muto, the CEO of the Tokyo Olympics Organizing Committee, the games will continue even if there is no vaccine for COVID-19 at that point in the future, although he added that it would be greatly appreciated if there was one. A task force for the 2021 games has been organized and is currently holding meetings to plan for the possibility of holding the games while the virus is still around. They are putting rules in place to keep athletes and spectators safe, discussing how to test for COVID-19, and planning how to handle a possible outbreak. However, surveys have shown that the Japanese public is uneasy about holding the games this year. One particular survey revealed that less than 1 in 4 Japanese people still want the 2021 Olympics to occur.
Professional sports leagues in the U.S. have also experienced a very different season this year. Although all of the major U.S. professional leagues had to stop playing at the beginning of the pandemic, they were all able to resume playing this summer and fall. The NHL, NBA, and MLS all decided to keep their players and staff confined within “bubble” locations during at least part of the season. The NBA and MLS both had “bubbles” in Orlando, Florida, while the NHL used two separate “bubbles” in Canada: one for the eastern teams and one for the western teams. For the most part, this method worked sufficiently. The NBA had a long streak of no COVID-19 cases while in the “bubble,” and the NHL had no reported cases at all. Two teams had to leave the MLS tournament held in the “bubble” due to coronavirus outbreaks, but other than that, the MLS athletes mostly stayed healthy. Since the end of this tournament, the MLS has left their “bubble” to play the rest of the soccer season. There have been a few more recent coronavirus outbreaks within several MLS teams, causing some games to be postponed. The NFL teams started their season last month and have recently had to deal with a coronavirus outbreak with positive tests from several teams, forcing them to make major changes to their game schedule. However, NFL officials seem to be working hard to control the virus in general and to keep players, coaches, and staff safe. Players are tested daily during the regular season except on game days, and there are specific rules in place for what to do if a player tests positive, depending on whether they do or do not show symptoms. The MLB, which, like the NFL, did not use a “bubble,” resumed their season in July. Since then, the league has had two major coronavirus outbreaks. Although the league plans to set stricter rules in place regarding COVID-19 after the outbreaks, many players are choosing to opt out of the 2020 season.
Unlike the heavily-demanded resumption of professional sports, school sports have suffered immensely with school boards at a difficult crossroads. Over the summer, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf recommended that all youth and school sports in the state be shut down until January 1, 2021 in order to keep students and their communities safe from COVID-19. However, this decision faced a large amount of pushback from student athletes, parents, and some state officials, who said that the decision of whether or not to let young athletes play should be left to them and their families, not the government. They argued that social isolation was just as bad as—or even worse than—the coronavirus and that senior athletes hoping for scholarships needed their chance to impress colleges, among other reasons. Eventually, PIAA decided to approve the return to youth fall sports in Pennsylvania, allowing each individual school to make their own decision regarding whether to allow team play. For the schools continuing fall sports, PIAA released a long list of safety guidelines, including general rules for all members and coaches with even more specific sets of rules for each individual sport.
Sports are one of the most integral parts of American culture, as well as many other cultures around the world, and there is no doubt that trying to find ways to play and spectate during a pandemic has been difficult, especially with regard for communal and world safety. Fortunately, teams and leagues all over the globe have been creative and determined in finding ways to adapt their sport to this new reality. No matter what decision each league, team, school, or athlete has made, one thing is for sure: this will certainly be a season to remember.