Is it Safe to Play Sports During COVID?
November 23, 2020
Sports all around Virginia have been stopped due to COVID-19, but now, some leagues and schools have started sports up again. They’ve made sure to add specific rules and guidelines to ensure it’ll be safe for all players and coaches.
These leagues and associations have added many new rules and guidelines to keep everyone at the sporting event safe, including parents/spectators, players, and coaches. These rules vary between sports, but some of them apply to all sports. Here are some of the rules sports leagues and schools have added:
- Suggesting masks for all spectators
- Have players wear masks in dugouts and on sidelines
- Make sure that each team is only touching balls from their team
- Allowing only a specific amount of spectators or having no spectators at all
- Have players social distance in dugouts and on sidelines
- Having players submit covid forms or fill out forms making sure it is safe for them to attend the sporting event
- Socially distancing whenever possible
- Not using dugouts or locker rooms at all
- Not sharing space
Although sports leagues and schools have set all the rules and guidelines, is it really safe to be playing sports during covid? Truthfully, no, it’s not safe even with all these new guidelines to try and ensure safety for everyone. This is especially the case with non school related sports. Part of the problem is that even if you do tell people to wear masks, there’s no guarantee that’s actually gonna happen. So even if you’re wearing a mask at a sporting event or tournament, other people may not be, making it unsafe and easier to catch COVID-19. It’s hard to get some people to wear masks. Furthermore, players don’t wear masks while actually playing (although some do), even though they wear them on the sidelines/dugouts. So, no matter what the sport is or how close you need to get to other players, almost all players are not wearing masks which basically erases everything else you’re doing to stay safe. Also, it’s very hard for people to socially distance at these sporting events. This is because as people we don’t want social distance. We would like to go and get up close to people so we can socialize. As players it’s impossible to social distance, but even most parents don’t have enough willpower to stay socially distanced from other parents on their team.
These are just some of the reasons that it’s not safe to play sports during COVID-19, even with the new rules and guidelines. So, if you’re trying to decide whether it’s safe to play sports again, the answer is no.
Riya Vlcan is a 6th grader at Glasgow MS. She is Indian and European but was born in Arlington Virginia and has lived here her whole life. She has many hobbies and activities that include sports like softball, soccer, dance, ice skating, and many more. She also loves to read and write along with traveling all over the globe! Riya loves music as well. She plays two instruments, the cello and ukulele, and is learning how to play the piano. She also loves to listen to music. Her favorite musician is Taylor Swift. She’s always up and about doing something, but she also loves just spending time with animals especially her 2 year old cat Mika!
