The end of the road for many teens doing competitive sport?

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I know there are many more important things to worry about but I feel sad for many young teens involved in competitive sport, for whom the pandemic means the end of the aspirations they might have had. It probably means less for younger children who are just starting out but I think there are lots of teens who were 12 and over last March and who, by the times this is over, will probably have missed over a year of training and competing at a time when they might have had personal goals to get to the next stage in whatever sport they were doing.

Yes my son has probably lost the chance to progress now as two years of disruption and no chance to progress to a higher level. Once he gets to over 13 the chance is pretty much lost. Going from training for several hours a day to one 1-1 session a week has had a huge effect.

Angel2702 - sorry to hear that. Sounds like my dd. She was 13 last March and had high hopes for some competitions that were coming up. She will go back to training when she can but the opportunity has been lost...

Feeling the same here. Really tough. My 13 yo DD got a place on the England Development Squad (Artistic Swimming ) in Dec "19 - attended the first training camp in Jan '20, did really well in first year at next age group level at Nationals in March '20 and then WHAM! Lockdown! Had to fend for herself for a month and a half before England squad thankfully started some Zoom land training. She had also just started to transition to a bigger/more competitive club but then they couldn't do any club training either, just some Zoom calls. She went from around 20 hours a week training on land/in pool to 2 hours formal training! We put up a frame pool in the garden (3x2metres!) just so she could 'feel' the water! She managed to get back in the pool twice a week with club from Sep-Nov and then briefly in Dec between lockdowns - but It is now over a year since she got into the England Squad and they haven't been able to train in the pool or on land in person AT ALL! She has kept up her training at home with 2 England training sessions a week and 2 club sessions a week, and has now topped that up since January with a private coach programme 6 days a week, but an artistic swimmer without water isn't an Artistic Swimmer ! .... the effect on her mental as well as physical health is immense! She was so looking forward to making life long friendships and enjoying progressing as an athlete and having the opportunity for international competitions.... such a shame ... she hopes all the work she has put in, despite everything, is not in vain and things will get back to some normality soon ... 🥲

DD was identified as having potential for British team training in her sport. It’s about as socially distanced a sport as you can imagine (not quite orienteering, but imagine something that needs you to run around in the wild!) so training was possible but was halted. We hope she will still be able to pick back up where Covid left off

Bluegiraffe - that sounds really tough. I can imagine how disappointed your dd is feeling. My dd is also a swimmer and yes, no amount of land training is a substitute for being in the pool! But it’s tough for all sports.

My dd wasn't competing at a high level in her sport but has missed all the comps at the age level she was at and she probably isn't good enough to be competitive at the next level ( although I'm not sure she realizes it yet ) as she was more hard work over talent ! so I'm a bit sad for her as she worked really hard to overcome dyspraxia to be able to do what she did.

Yes, this is affecting mine (swimming and hockey at club level) but I have to say the two clubs have done amazingly well both at resuming training from Sept to Dec and with their virtual provision now.

Yes, it's been tough for many sporty kids. My DS has got a friend who was selected for the GB junior team in his sport last year but all the competitions he was chosen for were cancelled and he will be 18 by the time they come around again. He is very good and may yet get selected for the senior team at some point, but it's a huge disappointment for him.
My DS is nowhere near as good but he is county standard and has missed a lot of opportunities too. In one of his sports he had no competitive opportunities at all last year and this season isn't looking optimistic either. That will mean that he will have effectively missed his whole 2 years as an U16 which is bound to impact on how he develops.
No it's not the end of the world but for young people who have devoted a lot of their lives to sports and other activities it is a big blow for sure.I think quite a few will become disillusioned and give up.
I volunteer within sport at grassroots level and we have been desperately trying to keep our participants engaged, but there is only so much you can do online and numbers have dropped right off. I can see at least one of the clubs that I am involved in folding before too long , and I know of lots of clubs who are struggling financially. Obviously it isn't the worst thing people are facing right now, but I do think that there will be a big loss to communities is sports clubs, theatre groups, dance schools etc don't survive the pandemic.

My son wasn't at academy level or anything but has been playing weekend league football since he was 5. The last two seasons have been spoilt. I just hope that next season, his last at junior level, is able to go ahead uninterrupted. 😢

Unfortunately I agree. DS1 is a swimmer and was just getting his fitness back when we were locked down for the second time. He’s approaching 13 and the loss of consistent training for nearly a year has really affected him, both mentally and physically. Quite a few of our promising swimmers didn’t return after the first lockdown and I suspect we may find more this time round. I’m not sure DS will, but I hope he does and will do all I can to support him.

DS quit competitive swimming after over 10 years when lockdown 2 happened. He is 17 now and this year was realistically last chance at British qualifying as he doesn't have the build to make it past this age. Our club has been beyond useless- can say that as we were on the committee trying to keep momentum going. Not a word from head coach since summer . Have had interim coaches sept to December on massively reduced training hours - less than half. He simply can't be competitive on that. Very sad end to something that as a family we all gave a lot to.

DC at county level and qualified for some nationals as well, was able to keep it up fairly well during first lock down but her motivation has made a dive during this one.

I try not to think about this as it really upsets me. People will say it's not important. But it is. Massively to some DC. I know loads of DC at the top end of their sports. Most have now had 6 months off or massively disrupted. Ability to continue training spends so much on home circumstances... I've seen furlough parents training their DC every day March - July and again now whilst KW kids were in school or working parents struggling ... Same now.. I'm getting so sick of insta or social media posts about how much elite kids are training every day with non working parents... all an exaggeration of course

For some DC their sports are their only release and what they aspire to do. I know DC training via zoom for hours to try and stay fit, but there is no doubt it will have impact in the same way no schooling does

DD was just starting out (swimming) had just qualified for her first counties in March. The club are good and send out dryland exercises but she has a health condition and has to avoid all high impact (hence the swimming in the first place). She went back between the lockdown but now says she doesn't want to go back and lost all motivation for it. Im hoping it's partly the dreary weather and she'll perk up in the spring but I think another part is getting her evenings back and not training most nights.

It must be awful for those of you with children competing at a high level, it takes a lot of sacrifice from the whole family, travelling to competitions and waiting at training session. I also think the same of all those teens and young adults who have probably spent everyweekend since they were 2 singing and dancing, gone to drama schools and then the theatres closed although I imagine getting back into acting will be easier then getting back to ballet etc.

It’s a real shame x

A number of the big events in my DS's intended Spring /Summer programme have been cancelled today. I'm not really surprised but it is still very disappointing. I'd been half expecting it so hadn't booked any accomodation or anything so at least we won't lose any money, but it wouls have been his last chance to compete at some events so it's a great shame. I do understand it from the organisers point of view though. I organise local competitions and even that is a lot of work and expense so I can only imagine how much goes into organising nationals. It is better to make the decision sooner rather than later I guess. Fingers crossed that some of the later events can go ahead if things improve.
Incidentally has anyone whose DC is doing GCSE PE had any news from their schools as to how the practical element will be assessed? We'd been told to start logging matches plsyed within training sessions due to normal competitions being cancelled but now of course there aren't even any of those!

My children are grown up now but I know how sad this would have made them at this age and I really feel for your teenagers.

And also for those who were looking forward to big school drama productions or concerts in the sixth form, so gone for good probably as they will have left school this year.

Sport and music and drama are such a good counter to academic work on A levels, etc. I'm so sorry.

@HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime my two do Stagecoach and while Zoom is obviously not quite the same it's not as bad as sports where you need special equipment or a team sport where the whole point is being together. I feel really sorry for sporty dc in their crucial teenage years, it's just another thing to knock them down