What Will the World of Sports Look Like After Quarantine?

By AVA MCNEIL ‘22

Will the world of sports instantly go back to normal post-Quarantine? Fans anxiously anticipate the return of professional athletes to the field, court, and rink while adolescent athletes anticipate their own return, too. For months, many sports leagues have brainstormed strategies that could restart their seasons while also keeping athletes socially distanced. According to the LA Times, the MLB has considered “quarantining all 30 of its teams in Arizona, keeping players, coaches, and staff in a virus-free BioDome facility and holding games in empty ballparks.” However, Dr. Richard Jackson, a former CDC official and professor at UCLA’s School of Public Health, is worried about the popular yet foolish theory that “professional athletes, young and fit, hold some kind of ‘get out of jail free card’ when it comes to the coronavirus.” In other words, to set an example for the rest of America, professional sports leagues must follow social distancing guidelines as effectively as possible. Nonetheless, in sports such as football, basketball, and soccer, among many others, physical contact is inevitable; therefore, there is no room for such meticulous social distancing. As more and more states reopen and move into various phases of their post-quarantine plan, sports leagues must calibrate their method of play based on the Governmental guidelines.

While professional athletes await the start of their seasons, younger athletes, especially individuals going through the college recruitment process, may have already lost a vital window. According to ABC News 7, “the kids most directly impacted are high school Juniors who compete in spring sports like track because their season was wiped out, and by the time they compete in their senior year, chances are they’ve already chosen a college.” Additionally, some could argue that out-of-school teams, such as club or travel, would help combat this issue, but many non school-related junior sports leagues are uncertain about when they will resume play. Despite this uncertainty, college coaches maintain that the NCAA may assist student-athletes in getting back their lost eligibility, which would definitely help decrease stress about these highschoolers’ athletic and academic futures. 

Although the lockdown has halted competition among aspiring college recruits, it has also provided athletes with an abundance of time to train for future athletic seasons. According to abc7.com, Jason David, the founder of Stars in Anaheim, a five star training facility, gives the following advice to students and athletes: “remain positive and…take advantage of being at home.” All athletes must effectively utilize this free time, no matter their level, because the restricted season will make athletic performance even more crucial after quarantine. 

From pee-wee youth soccer to the major leagues, everyone is longing for a return to normalcy in their athletic lives. However, the return of sports poses many health risks, as fans and athletes cannot distance themselves when at games. The respective sports associations must decide if these health risks pose too great a threat to the safety of the players. But once that threat is alleviated, the sports world will come back in full swing.