We need to get young people back into sport

By Shane Brophy and Peter Gleeson

A highly respected athletics coach has urged the Government to allow young sportspeople to return to sporting activity sooner rather than later.

Former Tipperary inter-county hurler and international athlete Denis Finnerty, who has been coaching young athletes in Nenagh Olympic Athletic Club for many years, has said the closure of schools and sports facilities, along with the cancellation of sporting events, has led to the reduction in physical activity amongst young athletes and is having significant mental health consequences.

Referring to a recently published article in the British Medical Journal of a study carried out in the UK which gauged the effects of lockdown on some 13,000 adolescent athletes it found that 40% reported moderate to severe depression symptoms and 37% reported moderate to severe anxiety. These results show that this lack of opportunity or motivation to exercise is becoming a major public health issue.

However, Denis Finnerty says there is a quick fix to this and when the Government reviews its restrictions for post April 5th, it needs to allow adolescents to return to sporting activity. “Being active has never been more important,” Finnerty said.

“Those who provide these outlets to our young population should be supported like never before. It seems that it took a pandemic to focus our attention on the vital public health role that all of these sporting and social activities play in our lives and in the lives of our children.”

He added: “We should use this opportunity to double down on our investment in programmes that will increase participation in physical activity in all children, not just the chosen few as before.

“We should try now to use all the resources at our disposal to create a new normal which might open the door to participation for a whole cohort of children who may never have been exposed to the physical and mental benefits of moderate exercise.”

IS IT SAFE?

But, is returning to sport safe? To answer that question, Denis Finnerty, a Nenagh-based pharmacist, refers to data emerging from around the world where organisations have tracked infection and transmission rates of Covid-19 amongst young athletes. In one such study of US high school sports participants in which over 150,000 young athletes were represented, it showed the case rate of Covid-19 being significantly lower amongst outdoor sport versus indoor sport, while there seems to be no significant increase in transmission rates in team sport versus individuals sport after accounting for instances of location and contact.

The study also found that the use of face masks had a significant effect on transmission rates in some indoor sports, including basketball, suggesting that the risks associated with being indoors were mitigated by mask wearing to the extent that the risk drops to being similar to the outdoor sports. New studies have also suggested that face mask use in youth sport is considered to be safe.

“The whole study definitively points to the fact that Covid-19 rates amongst these young athletes is, in large measure, reflective of the background rates in the community,” Finnerty added.

“There is no extra risk in allowing a return to sporting activity when the community rates are low. However, the role of spectators and parents must be addressed. Specifically, the social aspects of coming and going, dropping off and picking up.

“As well as this, the attendance of large numbers of spectators at events must be examined and proper and safe protocols should be developed for these aspects of our approach to a safe return to activity. While no definitive data has been collected in relation to the rates of transmission amongst spectators at such gatherings, it nonetheless represents an opportunity for community spread and risk reducing measures should be in place for all sporting bodies.

“These are easy measures to take and represent a small price to pay for the prize of getting our children back to some form of physical activity and guiding them towards improved mental health.”