Did you find this answer helpful? Subscribe to keep up with all things Lifelong Learning.
If a youth sports team travels to a tournament, do you have specific recommendations related to precautions that coaches and parents should take?
The most optimal way to avoid COVID infection to any individual is to minimize close contact with others—maintaining physical distance. When in close proximity to others, then universal masking should be observed, frequent hand hygiene (washing with soap and water or hand sanitizers), or physical barriers should be erected. However, these are not feasible measures during contact sports. There have been a number of outbreaks among professional sports teams that have spent very significant resources and enforced strict measures in an attempt to maintain their respective competitive sport seasons and tournaments. If those well-resourced organizations were unable to prevent outbreaks then what do you think I can suggest that might be an effective means of preventing COVID outbreaks among youth sports tournaments? The public health answer to the questions is to not have the tournament and put children and their communities at risk.
Final Comment: At this time, the entire world is enduring a pandemic. These are not ordinary times. That means that people have to understand that many activities will need to be voluntarily curtailed until the situation improves. Continued community transmission can be eliminated, but only if everyone is unified in minimizing transmission risks. When even small segments of any community participate in activities that can promote transmission then the virus will continue to persist. So, individual decisions affect entire communities—it is not a time for selfish decision making.
