Return of kids sports?

[Snagscardies]

I have not missed the endless drudgery of sport practice, however my kids have so as lockdown is lifted no doubt my life will go back to this but when do you think it will start, will some start first ie football before swimming, netball before rugby? The only real information I've had is from rugby who seem pretty certain that it will all be back to normal in September.

I coach kids football. There is nothing coming out of the FA at any level about when to start training or the protocols.

Cricket and tennis are your friends here, as there is inherent distance involved. Both now allowed with some restrictions (eg cricket 1-1 only in the nets)

Our kids football are saying hopefully in early July. Ditto dancing class.

Hoping athletics will be able to resume in small groups next week, but all depends on England Athletics getting off its bottom and updating its guidance in time. I am not holding my breath but they might surprise me.

Club swimming seems a long way off as we usually have about 6 kids per lane and every lane full so very hard to keep our numbers and distance.

I play netball and am not confident about when it’ll restart at social level (inc kids); it’s such a close contact sport, way more than football, sadly I think it’ll be one of the last. Hope I’m wrong though

I coach cycling. The latest we have heard from British Cycling is that they are hoping that kids activities and small group rides such as Breeze rides will be able to start up again before races and larger participation events. Everything is currently off until 4th July at the earliest though. Apparently guidance on getting restarted will be published next month and we will get a couple of weeks notice of any changes. Personally I think it is going to be very difficult if the 2m separation of different households has to be maintained. With the age group I coach and the type of activities we do I don't think its going to be feasible. The only way I think I could make my group work is with a much smaller number of children, each activity done one at a time and every child having a household member with them to pick them up if they fall etc. The older kids may be easier to manage, as they will understand the situation and are able to judge distance better, but it still leaves the issue of providing first aid etc.
I also have a hockey player in the family and England Hockey have issued some guidelines on getting started again. I haven't read them myself but I know our club coaches have reservations regarding how practical they are.
The other issue is cost. If you have to reduce numbers to maintain social distancing but the cost of hiring pitches etc remains the same then a lot of clubs will struggle financially. A lot of grassroots sports clubs run on a shoe string as it is and decreased income along with increased costs eg buying large quantities of hand sanitiser, could tip some over the edge unfortunately.

DS is desperate for rugby to restart! Can't see it happening any time soon though

@HeadSpin5

I play netball and am not confident about when it’ll restart at social level (inc kids); it’s such a close contact sport, way more than football, sadly I think it’ll be one of the last. Hope I’m wrong though

I too want my netball back, both playing and umpiring, but I too fear it will be one of the last things allowed back.

Mine play a contact sport, no chance it could be played with social distancing, so not for a while yet.

Weirdly I complain to anyone who will listen (and even those who don’t wont to) about all the running around to training and matches. Blimey do I miss it.

@HeadSpin5 & @wanderings me too. I miss netball more than anything else - so does dd.

Swim England are working to look at alternative ways whilst we can meet in 6's.

So outdoor land training and open water swimming in small bubbles.

My ds will implode is swimming doesn't start soon one way or another. Being year 11 as well it's been a huge adjustment.

@wanderings I know, it’s so depressing! I mean, this whole thing is awful but the effect it’ll have on the sport overall, including the amazing momentum that had got going, is such a shame. Super league cancelled too...At least ANZ and Suncorp look like starting though 💪

I'm in the netherlands and here children up to 16yo have been back at sports with some restrictions for a couple of weeks:
sport is only allowed outside, even traditional indoor sports like gymnastics or fencing.
for children 12 and older strickly no equipment sharing. focus on footwork for example. distancing (1.5m) from others is also expected of older children.
younger children are not expected to distance and can share a ball but can't share gloves, helmets, vests etc

My DS sails and you can't get much more socially distanced than that. No word of the juniors starting back, although Nationals in August has not been cancelled... yet.

I not the British Sailing team are back on the water training, so I'm hoping that is a step in the right direction.

oh, and other adults/parents are not allowed at the sports ground at all.
the sports club have drop off points well away from the entrance for younger dc, but children from about 10 are expected to make their own way on foot or by bike

@itsgettingweird. My DTs are year 11 too. They’ve gone from full on gcse year work, training 4 hours per week with all day matches at the weekend to literally nothing. One of mine hasn’t been up and out of bed before lunch for two months.

@ChippityDoDa I wonder how in July? You would need a lot of room to dance

England Hockey are moving from 1-2-1 coaching currently permitted to small group coaching from Monday, with contact (tackling) then in the next phase. Some age groups might be allowed to play with contact earlier than others - presumably younger age groups.

@HeadSpin5 , @wanderings , @AgnesNaismith
Another netballer here, with a DD who loves playing too and has been training with a NPL team this year.
I too fear it will be a long time before we see netball being played. Even once the sport is 'allowed', an additional issue is that no clubs own their own grounds, so the school or facility that you play or train at also has to want you there. I can't see many schools wanting to hire their courts to netball clubs in the immediate future when their priority has to be safeguarding their students and staff.
January 2021 earliest, in my completely non expert opinion! Would love to be wrong though.

No sign of our dance studio opening up physically yet but at least classes have been able to continue on Zoom.

I have a friend in America whose daughter is a competitive gymnast and she's been back at training (indoors) for 2 weeks. But her son plays soccer (outside) and they're not yet back. I don't really get it.

@blametheparents I agree with all you’ve said, sadly!

Looks like Her Majesty's clowns want us to be a nation of unhealthy fatties, after all, as they're effectively banning us from so many forms of physical exercise. The "going out for exercise" simply isn't the same as proper sport.

Thanks bluefoxmug & MrsAvocet.

Ds 12 is a swimmer and driving us all crazy as it just seems to be slipping further and further away. He should have been at regionals this month and I'm gutted for him. Dd rides and although she didn't ride during lockdown some normality is slowly returning.