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.

In the US rugby can start 1 June (insurance will cover from that date). However lots of rules like no tag/flag/contact rugby, no socialising, no car pooling, no communal balls.

So i guess they can practicing kicking (remembering which ball is yours) and erm fitness drills.

Tennis started a couple of weeks ago as social distancing easy.

I have everything crossed for at least a rough idea of dates soon. My DCs are still pretty young, but very keen swimmers and they are missing it greatly. A paddling pool in the garden just doesn't cut it! Both were making such fantastic progress, and I wonder how much they will be set back once they return. DD1's swim club linked an article from Swim England which said they were working on safety guidance for when they are allowed to open. Hopefully it should be written by mid June, and that may give a bit more of an idea.
They do gymnastics too, but aren't missing that to the same degree. Swimming was the highlight of both of their weeks

My son climbs and is worried he will have lost his strength. Also his martial arts class

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

I’m afraid you are right. Indoor team sports will indeed be last, it’s been confirmed at a meeting of the chief execs of sports organisations.

I have no idea why football 'training' can't start immediately and why the FA hasn't announced it.

Or for children who are mature enough to understand. Say 11 year olds would totally get the rules.

Social distancing whilst doing drills etc would be very easy. Very easy to keep 2m apart.
At least the team would be together, with their manager.

I'm not suggesting matches. But there is literally nothing stoping training resuming immediately.

I am at a total loss to understand what the delay is.

Another one with a climber. Hoping we follow Germany and get climbing walls opened up soon with measures in place. I don’t miss the running him around here there and everywhere, but I do miss the sport itself!

The lack of sport and extracurricular activities and the long term impact on physical progress/mental health needs to be discussed more. DD is a competitive swimmer and is desperate to get back in a pool. She could easily keep two metres away from the coaches and her peers are unlikely to be a risk to each other.

Netball and hockey here. The neyballer has lost half her last season as a junior and had just started umpire qualifying which she's not been able to put into practice. She's not great at doing any other exercise, so lots of sport at school and training and playing out of school is taking its toll, health wise.

My hockey player plays in a ladies team. I'm going they are able to play as normal in September. It's all outdoors, no touching of the ball. It's likely so low risk if they turn up in their kit and forgo match teas (gladly from my pov!) and change at home. It will be her last season before uni and Is be sad not to see her play again.

Is there any hope for outdoor netball?

Swimmer here too - hi @itsgettingweird ! Also year 11 so double rubbish ... Swim England have cancelled national competitions and master swimming competitions until 2021 and no licences for galas are being allocated so doesn’t sound like a return for a long time to me, despite the risk of pool transmission being very unlikely. I wish club swimmers could go back. Go in Club kit wearing Jammers etc underneath, stagger swimmers to start at both ends with enforced lane discipline, no showers and straight out to parents afterwards - no parents inside. coaches wouldn’t be within 2 metres anyway. We are Council pool so council losing money on us hand over fist. Our coaches are redeployed in other Council jobs except one who is uploading land training to website. DS is cycling and running and doing land training alone but it’s not the same. We are risking the loss of their sporting desire and fitness levels. If obesity is a risk factor then closing off grass roots sports is short sighted. Taking part is a matter of balancing risk for parents and kids at the moment, but at least give those who want to make the choice the chance to do so.

DD plays netball and we were talking about this.

It's a contact sport anyhow, and close marking is a feature.

If it comes back in the autumn, it would be safer on outdoor courts only.

This is when you start noticing how rare public outdoor netball courts are.

England Athletics are cancelling things on a monthly basis, and current ban runs to end June, but that's for events, and serious club training. Small(ish) DC doing running races in widely spaced lanes would be no different to being in a classroom?

Field events and childrens' obstacle races (except perhaps egg and spoon if everyone has their own spoon) will probably be off for longer.

Parkrun is going to be paused for quite a while, because of size of event. IIRC, they ampnnounced that the main criterion for closing was when the typical number of runners at any event was greater than the government's permitted size of gathering. Everyone starts or no one does. As there are a couple of events which regularly get over 1000, and Bushy gets 1500+ these days) I think we are some time away from that, even if you asked people not to make the Pilgrimage in the earlymweeks of return.

I'm desperate for grass roots sports to start again! Mine play cricket and football. I think the ECB has said outdoor nets can start 1:1 (I may have misread that) but our club only has access to indoor nets.
Cricket could certainly be done in a safe socially distanced way.
Football training could also be carried out safely. My youngest DS is 8 and he understands the need to stay 2m away from others, and that could definitely be achieved in training sessions.
Starting sport again would have a amazing impact on my kid's MH.

My kids do gymnastics and dancing. I hope I am wrong but I will be stunned if they are back this calendar year in anything approaching a full class. The dance school could theoretically distance during the lessons but drop off and pick up and the changing rooms are carnage. Certainly wouldn’t be able to socially distance even if parents were not allowed in. The children are too young to wait on their own or get there on their own and there are usually multiple younger siblings etc. Not enough car parking for everyone to wait in the car. Not to mention the logistics of e.g. tying laces of tap shoes. I can’t see how young children will be back anytime soon. Smaller classes are theoretically possible but not financially for many clubs. Am resigned to zoom lessons and taking them out for runs. It’s shit. Gymnastics especially is a tricky one to restart.

I never thought I would miss getting up at 4.30 am ....!

My children (aged 6-16) all normally do tennis a few times a week and football. Complete silence from the club's for both about when training will restart.
I think football has just been completely sacked off as.it would be the end of the season now anyway. For year 11 Ds it is especially anticlimactic as it was the last year his team would be together before going up to the adult leagues and they all go different ways to college/ sixth form.
Nothing from tennis training, we can book courts at the club but we have a closer village court which I need to remember to pre book.

I think the silence of children's sport is indicative of the government basically not being in the slightest bit interested in the well-being of younger people ( teens in particular). Remember the clarity we had about golf and garden centres.... More the persuuts of the over 60's Tory voter than teenagers. I hope our young people remember this when they engage with politics in the future.

My 3 all play cricket and / or football. I'm particularly worried about DS2 who is year 10. We've had an email from school this morning, he wont be back in this term. His social life is really his sport, he needs to interact with someone other than his sister! (lovely as she is!) He does have a cricket net booked next week with a friend. They would normally be out all day Saturday and Sunday at this time of year

My kids do martial arts, one does karate so can do it socially distanced (although not ideal) but the other does jujitsu which means very close contact so I have no idea when that will happen. Certainly not 2020.

I am really concerned as to whether the sports clubs will still be there to reopen in 2021. Financially some must be really struggling. Plus if social distancing has to carry on through 2021 then I can’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. Conditioning / drills / fitness - all of that stuff is ok but it will take a determined child to carry that on without the prospect of doing the ‘real’ sport at the same time.

Me too TooStressy
I volunteer with 3 separate sports clubs and they all have financial concerns.The smaller ones will be hit harder but even big clubs are not immune. All my clubs are ok at the moment as whilst their income has disappeared, none of the organisations we hire our facilities from are currently charging us. We've still had to pay insurance and accreditation fees to our national bodiss however. The big problem will come if we reopen wjth the same outgoings but far fewer members as people lose interest, don't want to participate in a reduced programme or can't afford it.My only hope is that as all activities have been off, people will be keen to get back to whatever they can, even if its not as it was. Sports that get the green light early will obviously be at an advantage there.
Its even worse for those actually trying to make a living from kids activities. I have a relative who is a freelance dance teacher and at least 1 of the schools she normally works for is in financial difficulties. I suspect the others just aren't saying anything. As the recession starts to bite, as it invariably will, extras like dance classes will be the first thing to go in many families so we are very worried.
I would urge people to be patient with their sports and activity providers. The teachers and coaches want to get back as much as you do but have tied hands. Its very frustrating for everyone- especially as apparently it is safe for 15 children and a teacher to be in a classroom but not for the same number of children and a coach to be outdoors
And if you can afford to keep paying your subs or fees, even at a reduced rate, please consider doing so, as if you don't there may well be no club/classes for you to come back to when all this ends.

We’re hoping for a return to athletics training in the next week or two. We’re in NI and are just waiting for the guidance from NI Athletics, but the hope is that small group training can begin in the next week or two. DS’s group has about 20-25 in it and we have been told that the club have agreed additional coaches to attend each session so groups can be split down to smaller numbers. He’s been able to keep training through lockdown as he’s just running alone anyway, but is desperate for some group motivation!

Very glad he gave up climbing - he used to climb in a team at regional level, but a bad experience with the coaching at the centre he climbed at, and then a move to NI, meant that he gave it up and I’m glad now because I can’t imagine how he could have kept his strength up while on lockdown.

DTs do trampolining and I’m expecting that to be one of the last ones back. (Although the leisure centre they do it at was one of the last to close and is very clear I’m wanting to open again ASAP so it really depends on how specific the guidance from the government is.)

Just seen our north east swimming site and no level one or two competitions at all until 2021 acc to Swim England so no winter SC regionals. Haven’t made a decision yet on level 3 or 4.

Well today's briefing was explicit that groups of up to 6 are allowed to excercise together from Monday rather than just saying we can meet with that number of people, so I hopefully we should start to see guidance coming out from national sporting bodies soon. It is a tricky situation because currently whilst there would be nothing to stop 6 members of a sports club meeting up and training informally on Monday, if their national body has not yet sanctioned the resumption of club activities it wouldn't be able to be an official session as presumably they would be uninsured. I feel sorry for the national bodies actually as whilst they no doubt have their own plans in place they can only be reactive to government advice. So they are caught between their members who are desperate to get active again and the need to abide by guidance that is changing frequently. Not to mention the fact that many staff are furloughed so it isn't necessarily an easy matter to get things moving again immediately. But it looks like we are heading in the right direction. Let's hope the good weather holds a bit longer so outside activities are possible.

@estherfrewen I had a feeling this year was over for swimmers 😕 our counties are Jan / feb but beginning to look doubtful they will get a chance to qualify.

Hi @confusednortherner - whereabouts are you from? We are Yorkshire so definitely no winter Yorkshire’s or sc NERs. I see your DS is 12 so at least plenty of swimming years ahead. My son’s friend missed almost a year at 13/14 with illness and makes British since he was 16 - just trying to keep them going without the pool is so hard though.