Covid-19 and the impact on young athletes

Hugh T Fitzgerald; Sam T Rubin; Dominic A Fitzgerald; Bruce K Rubin

doi:10.1016/j.prrv.2021.04.005

Covid-19 and the impact on young athletes

Paediatr Respir Rev. 2021 Sep:39:9-15. doi: 10.1016/j.prrv.2021.04.005. Epub 2021 May 1.

Authors

Hugh T Fitzgerald¹, Sam T Rubin², Dominic A Fitzgerald³, Bruce K Rubin⁴

Affiliations

¹ Exercise Physiology, School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW 2052, Australia.
² Biomedical Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA.
³ Department of Respiratory Medicine, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales 2145, Australia; Discipline of Child & Adolescent Health, Children's Hospital at Westmead Clinical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Westmead 2145, Australia.
⁴ Jessie Ball duPont Distinguished Professor, Dept. of Pediatrics Professor of Biomedical Engineering Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine Virginia Eminent Scholar in Pediatrics 1000 East Broad St.Richmond, VA 23298 USA. Electronic address: bkrubin@outlook.com.

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted organised sport in the community as authorities cancelled, greatly modified or postponed sporting participation as part of a strategy to reduce transmission of the virus. This had a significant impact on young athletes and their families in relation to their psycho-social, physical and career progression considerations. The disruption is likely to continue for some years, considering the constraints of lockdowns, the need to overcome dysfunctional national logistics for delivery of medical care, fund and implement an efficacious vaccine programme locally, nationally and worldwide, develop sufficient herd immunity and create an environment of confidence in the safety of returning to sports for participants, coaches, umpires, administrators and observers. This article will consider the interim challenges regarding the physical and psychosocial importance of maintaining an active sporting programme for young athletes, reflect on safety measures for modifying sporting equipment and environmental protections to allow safest participation in training and competition and provide advice on protocols for a gradual return to sport for the young athlete after infection with Covid-19.

Keywords: Athletes; Covid-19; Harm minimization; Return to training; Sport participation.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Athletes*
COVID-19 / epidemiology
COVID-19 / prevention & control*
Child
Communicable Disease Control
Humans
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2