

To play or not to play? Games postponed. Matches canceled. Will athletics ever return to normal? Youth sports events during the coronavirus pandemic are raising plenty of questions—and eyebrows.
On Mother’s Day weekend, Rob Worstenholm held a youth baseball tournament near St. Louis, Missouri. The event featured about 50 teams and strict social-distancing measures. It was among the first sports activities of any kind since the shutdown began in March.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Worstenholm said of players at the event. “It was like a joy times a hundred.”
Not everyone was joyful. “I mean, 50% of the people hate me,” he says. “But the other 50%, I could have run for president.”
Meanwhile, in Florida, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) planned a volleyball event. Last year, the same tourney drew nearly 3,000 teams. The AAU spent weeks assuring attendees that organizers would check temperatures, ban handshakes, and put plenty of space between courts. Still, hundreds of teams withdrew, so organizers postponed.
“My families are very wary about traveling to states that [are rushing] to open,” says Konrad Ott, who coaches a California girls volleyball club. He and his team were worried about hotels, food, and other issues in a location that perhaps wasn’t ready to host an event safely.
Yet Tony Carrow of a Nebraska volleyball club says his parents were comfortable with the low infection rate in Florida. “We had a very strong voice from certain parents that they wanted their kids to go,” Carrow says. “They want to get back to living their [lives].”
There’s the rub: Individuals, families, and teams must weigh the risks of when, where, and how to “return to normal.”
Pediatrician and California state senator Richard Pan calls sports tournaments “high-risk” situations. “You’re drawing people from so many different parts of the country,” he observes. “[We] take all those people, bring them to one place, have them mixed together.”
Scott Kretchmar, a former exercise and sports science professor, points out that physical risk is part of most youth sports. With the coronavirus, some people believe waiting—postponing or canceling—“removes an important, unnecessary risk.” They believe waiting gives time for slowing the virus’ spread and for new treatments to emerge.
But Worstenholm isn’t waiting. He plans to run events all summer “unless something blows up.”
Early on, he told his staff, “If we do this right, we’re going to be the poster children for showing that this can be done safely. If we get this wrong, I don’t know what we’ll be, but it won’t be good.”
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. — Proverbs 3:5
My brother's soccer is back
My brother's soccer is back to "normal".
Elbow bumps..
This is what i don't understand...
They tell you to cough/sneeze into your elbow and then you do elbow bumps to stop germs but you cough on your elbow......?
Ugh where I live sports most
Ugh where I live sports most likely won't open again. I play soccer and I feel stressed without sports.
I like basketball. And why is
I like basketball. And why is it callled what’s up with youth sports it’s just not opened.
This is Mylee
N&m a I agree about the elbow. We had vbs and it was normal no social distancing. Except that they checked your temperature before you came in. I like basketball I might do it in the fall. I was going to do volleyball but didn’t want to. Baseball always sounds fun. But the league here is for 5th grade and under so I can’t do it. London has some bAseball cards.
I don't play sports on a team
I don't play sports on a team (I do at home with my family) but I wish they would just pick the sports back up, so the kids can do what some of them love best. People wouldn't care if it were flu season, they would still have sports!
@Lonodn: I am glad you could have VBS! Mine was cancelled, and it was my last year. I was so disappointed.
This Is Elsie
I play soccer, volleyball, basketball, and they're all closed. Im soooo sad,
from us both
btw, what curriculum('s) r u all doing 4 school this year? our list is posted below: (it would b cool some of us were doing the same stuff! btw, we're homeschooled :)
Math: Teaching Textbooks
Language Arts: Learning Language Arts Through Literature
History: Sonlight Old World History
Science: Apologia Human Anatomy and Phisology
@Elsie
That's too bad! I'm sorry for you! I hope that they can start up again soon!
my sport is swimming, and as
my sport is swimming, and as far as i know it isn't canceled thankfully. to all of you who can't do sports, i feel so sorry for you:(
Surprise's sports are opening
Surprise's sports are opening again but you have to wear masks! and you can only have 2 spectators!
As much as I believe in
As much as I believe in wearing masks, I also think that wearing masks playing sports is kinda risky. You know, less air and all? You could get heat stroke.
Any interesting ideas on how
Any interesting ideas on how to do a volleyball huddle?
go mavriks
the nba started back up have any of yall started watching it