COVID-19 – PARADIGM Sports

How BC is returning to Sport – Phase III

Posted September 2, 2020January 27, 2022 Glen MulcahyPosted in Athlete, Coach, COVID-19, Officials, Organization Executive, Parents

Since we entered the COVID-19 Era, I have had a number of conversations with various youth sports groups regarding the confusion regarding all of the return to play protocols as various provinces go thru their various stages of returning to play.

Our home province, British Columbia, has recently announced that we are now in Phase III thanks to the amazing work that our PHO and Dr. Bonnie Henry have done since COVID-19 lead to shutting down Sports and numerous other sectors.

Although I am excited that we will see sports ramping up this fall, based on recent conversations since I have had with a few user groups I felt best to share what the phase means in terms of returning back to Sport as some are inferring that it literally is GAME ON, meaning, we are good to return back to pre-COVID era and we are still a ways from that being the case.

Below is a summary of all phases of the proposed return to sport plan as a summary for user groups to reference;

What has not changed from prior phases is;

Personal Hygiene – washing hands regularly and using disinfectant
Social Distancing required in common areas like benches, dugouts, dressing rooms, lobbies and entrances (masks in those areas is also recommended)
Maximum gatherings of 50 to include spectators
Symptom Screening before every activity
Contact/Participant tracking

What has been eased up in terms of restrictions;

Cohort groups identified by risk of sports can be anywhere from 10-100
Contact within those cohort groups is now permitted
Competition or games can now be played (adhering to revised protocols)
High Performance training with limited travel

In terms of the actual sizes of cohort groups, as this will vary across a myriad of over 70 sports in BC alone, confirm with your PSO and refer to updated return to play quidelines, a recent example included Basketball BC’s HERE

Lowest risk of Contact – i.e. Archery, Tennis, skiing, golf – Up to 100
Higher risk of contact – Baseball, Cricket, Soccer – Up to 50
Frequent/Sustained Contact Sports – Football, Rugby, Hockey – Up to 50
Combative Sports – Martial Arts, Boxing – Max 10 per cohort

NOTE: Cohort groups includes spectators which are immediate family members only to be considered part of the cohort. Coaches and officials can be counted outside the total cohort number IF they are able to maintain physical distancing at all times.

To determine where your sport falls in terms of the size of cohort groups permitted, reach out to your PSO/RSO for confirmation as it is not a one size fits all approach, each sport will have different guidelines based on their evolving return to play plan and facilities being used.

A couple of examples that I can share with you how user groups implemented to limit COVID-19 exposure and reduce risk to participants (players, coaches and others)

My niece recently flew to Montreal for her first year to play for McGill’s Women’s Varsity Hockey Team. She will be staying in dorm rooms in a converted hotel that McGill purchased and renovated for dorm housing with her own bathroom and common areas for kitchen for cohorts to use only. Similar to the NHL bubble, they will not interact with others out of their cohorts

Her season will start with skills development sessions only, and will find out this week as Quebec enters into their next phase and she shared the original plan for competitive games is for McGill to play Concordia and Ottawa’s USports teams to be within a short travel distance but no travel will be permitted to USA or other provinces until a later date.

Although she will be able to be part of the team for various activities, all of her courses, like all the other students will be done online until further notice, like most other universities at least for this fall.

The second would be easing of instructions for minor hockey associations, the first of which that re-opened its doors with strict COVID-19 protocols was Burnaby Winter Club BWC) in May which we shared Returning Back to Play – Phase II where they took the biggest risk as the first out of the gate but to date no positive COVID-19 cases have been reported months later.

Now all other minor hockey associations in the lower mainland are slowly but surely returning back to the ice with various camps, skills sessions with limited number of skaters and coaches on the ice and aspire to return back to 5 on 5 hockey this coming season.

Ironically in July I had a coach who attended many of the workshops that I ran last year for one of those associations reached out to me if I felt it would be safe for him and his son to return to play and I shared all the work that was being done to ensure that it would be safe, but it would be different at least in the immediate short term.

When ViaSport and our provincial health authority announced that we would be entering phase III, I was excited but at the same time a little weary due to the fact that I have also connected with colleagues in the US, Europe and Australia who have shared how far out they are from returning to sport.

One recent example was a conversation that I had with one of our speakers for our Summer Summit, Rosemary Morris, the first female official of men’s elite basketball in Australia and she stated that they were in full lock-down due to the explosion of COVID-19 cases in recent weeks.

This included;

Curfew where all residents had to be in their homes from 8PM to 7AM the following day
Only 1 hour of outside time for physical activity, exercises
No retail shopping except essential services (grocery, pharmacy and of course alcohol)
Full cancellation of all sports programming until further notice
Police and Militia enforcement to ensure people follow the lock-down requirements

This right around the time when the Big 10, Pac12, CFL and various other professional, collegiate, school and youth sports cancelled all fall sports programming in Canada, US and abroad to curve the spread of COVID-19.

This is not to say that I am beyond excited that kids in BC, in particular the Vancouver area where I reside, will have the opportunity to return back to playing the sports they love, being with the coaches, team mates and working up a sweat with huge smiles on their faces while they do so.

I just want to make sure that we don’t go to the other extreme as we have seen in many US states who recognized the importance of kids playing youth sports but did not do so in phases adhering to various return to play protocols.

Recently the CDC, like ViaSport has identified various groupings of sport based on risk assessments per the image below

Phase III does permit cohort groups of competition within teams in your area but does not permit tournament play requiring travel to other areas.

Masks, sanitizer, and ultimately participating outdoors are the main recommendations to flatten the curve of COVID-19

Sadly COVID-19 has forced our hand to go down the path of implementing cohorts or bubble environments to limit the interaction and potentially the spread of COVID-19 but as the NHL has shown, if bubble is maintained, it does permit sports to be played.

According to ViaSport, the term cohort is “a group of participants who primarily interact with each other within the sport environment over an extended period of time.”

Similar to the Bubble concept that has been implemented by professional sports like the NHL, NBA once kids are identified for their cohorts they are not permitted to interact with ones that are in other cohort groups and same holds true for coaches, officials if they become members of a cohort (exception being if they can maintain physical distancing then could coach other sports with other cohorts)

However, as the MLB who has not implemented a bubble model like the NHL/NBA/MLS have has shown, the chances of transmission of COVID-19 is much higher even though baseball is one of the sports identified by youth sports groups as being lower risk as by its natures participants are much farther apart then other team sports.

It also does not help when they had a couple of pitchers on one team that went partying in Chicago increasing their exposure, their team mates and potentially others teams they are playing against … but I digress.

The end result is for the foreseeable future, the cohort and or bubble model is necessary for us until such time that there is a vaccine or other treatment protocols for COVID-19 but by doing so, it will permit kids to play what they love, coaches do what they love to do and all other stakeholders return back to the fields, courts, fields and other playing surfaces so we can “Play for the love of the game”

In addition to the new Phase III guidelines, please ensure that you continue to follow health authority, organization and league safety protocols until such time that we do enter phase IV when large gatherings can take place as they had pre-Covid.

Figure it Out

Posted July 11, 2020January 27, 2022 Glen MulcahyPosted in Athlete, Coach, COVID-19, Organization Executive, Parents

I have been sharing for years in lieu of being part of the problem, figure out a solution and ironically this past week I did 3 facebook live interviews with guest speakers who had their own spins on Figure it Out and another time was when I was a BC Hockey Summit where Corey McNabb, the director of player development for Hockey Canada also used the term when referencing the importance of not making drills too linear so that players had an opportunity to figure it out and be creative.

These were two of the three from this week talking about how they were returning back to play after the COVID-19 quarantine period that shut down sport mid March

Steve Boyle – Founder & CEO

When I connected with my good friend and colleague, Steve Boyle, the founder and CEO of 241 sports and he shared Figure it Out several times during our chat as he and his wife Kerry have now ran their second sport sampling camp in the Connecticut area coming out of the COVID-19 Pandemic quarantine period.

Their first camp held last week was what he referred to as the scrimmage, just over 40 campers, where they implemented many changes to their normal programming developed over the last 10 years of hosting camps across the USA to adapt to various return to play guidelines from health authorities, parks and recreation and other governing bodies.

Like we will be doing for our first sport sampling camp we will be running in partnership with 241 Sports at the end of July at Queens Park in New West, BC, they added the following safety protocols to mitigate as much risk of possible for any campers, staff and families to be infected by the COVID-19 virus to include;

Cohort Groups of 10 – kids will be put into cohort groups of 10 for the entire week and will sample 8-10 different sports over the course of the week. They will be assigned 2 junior coaches along with directors that will manage 2 cohort groups to provide the activities

An example of what that cohort group will look like at our camp is one of the groups from this weeks camp with over 162 campers at their flagship camp in Connecticut below

Leaders – will all have masks/bandana’s (like those in the pic) and be lifted when social distancing of less than 6’ is not possible, in particular if have to administer first aid
Lunches – will be ordered from a local sandwich shop for all campers and the sandwich shop will sort by campers order and put in their cohort bags for leaders to pick up when they are delivered. This will prevent any potential of virus contamination to other cohorts as well as challenges to keep the lunches cool during hot days (at this camp the temperature exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees C)

Sports/Sampling – to minimize the contact of equipment and time to sanitize, team sports like lacrosse, floorball will be run for one day only and all cohorts will get a chance to day, but universal activities like stickball, wiffleball, capture the flag, impromptu baseball with tennis raquet/wiffle ball and so on will be various activities kids will get to try over the course of the week

** This differs from prior 241 model where kids would choose 3 sports they would do over the week augmented with a day of universal sports so as a result of COVID-19 safety protocols, Steve and the rest of 241 team FIGURED it Out to provide even more fun and activities vs. cancelling programs as many other sports organizers have done

Arrival/Pickup – kids will be asked questions how they feel, temperature checks as required and so forth when arriving at the park, then will be brought to their cohort for 90 minutes of cohort play time before trying various sports activities each day
Parents are not permitted to exit their cars and masks will be worn by leaders when 6’ or less distancing
Prescreening of the campers before they get out of the cars (list of questions if feel sick etc))
Ensure they have their water name with name on it, own sunscreen, bug spray etc (no sharing will be permitted)

“Don’t change the rules in the middle of the game”

He also had to adapt to health authorities changing the rules in the middle of the game where they changed cohorts to 14 and temperature check requirements and one of the parents shared they signed their kids up based on what safety protocols would be enforced from the get go

He went back to original safety protocols and for each camp going forward whatever standards were in place from day 1 would stay in place and we plan to do the same, whatever the bar that is in place at the start of the camp in terms of safety protocols will remain the bar until the end of the week.

Numerous other examples were shared by Steve in our Facebook live we did can view HERE

Dave Newson, Executive Director Semiahmoo Minor Hockey

Another example of a sports organization that has figured it out came from my discussion with Dave Newson, the Executive Director with Semiahmoo Minor Hockey, who shared with me the weekly calls that he initiated with a couple of minor hockey associations which has now evolved to having representation from every minor hockey association in the lower mainland of Vancouver since April.

In a recent news article that he contributed to he was quoted saying ….

“In the past, we’d get together and we wouldn’t get very much done. People would be very territorial and worry about their own situation.”

— Dave Newson, Semiahmoo minor hockey

Although our Face book live had some challenges with wifi connectivity, Dave shared how all the minor hockey associations who traditionally kept things very close to their chest, as a result of COVID-19 and the impact how it will affect minor hockey association returning back to the ice in the fall, now they are working collaboratively along with PCAHA, BC Hockey and Hockey Canada so they can do so safely.

A few things that he shared will be part of the return to play protocols similar to other sports

Prescreening of players (all ages) will be required before kids are permitted to enter the ice rinks, this will be a series of digital questions each day

Revised Medical sheets with acknowledgement of COVID-19 risks required to be signed before kids return back to the ice

Social distancing will be required and smaller groups on the ice to start like has been done with various private skills developers since BC entered Phase III, the first minor hockey association to do so is South Delta and Semiahmoo and many others have plans for skills camps in August.

One of the biggest challenges will be facilities re-opening again, although the private facilities have already done so like Planet Ice, Canlan, Winter Clubs shared in prior posts, the municipally owned facilities may be slower to open due to budget issues, layoffs of staff during COVID-19 and so forth.

What I found of particular interest in our chat is their (Semiahmoo) and other minor hockey associations registrations are on track to be same as last season although initially the model will be different with various COVID-19 return to play guidelines until we get to phase IV with a vaccine or treatment for COVID-19.

That was exciting to hear, as I and many others I have talked to have feared due to economic challenges that people have faced due to layoffs, losing their jobs, businesses it potentially would have a negative impact on youth sports registrations in the fall.

These are just two of many examples how youth sports organizations are improvising, adapting, overcoming and Figuring it Out.

The upside, is they are doing so collectively and collaborating with “competitors or rivals” when they traditionally would not have in past.

Based on early indications from the private organizations who have been the first out of the gate, particularly Burnaby Winter Club who was the first to open their doors under rigid safety protocols May 5^th, now 2 months later, there have been no positive COVID-19 cases reported which is exciting to hear as well.

The one constant that comes out of all the conversations I am having with various others is we still have a long ways to go, but if we follow the guidelines outlined from health authorities and governing bodies, as the examples above showed from 241 sports and initial hockey, returning and mitigating risks can happen if we work in collaboration to Figure it Out.

Staying the Course

Posted July 4, 2020January 27, 2022 Glen MulcahyPosted in Athlete, Coach, COVID-19, Officials, Organization Executive, Parents

As we slowly see youth sports returning back to the fields, courts, rinks and other playing surfaces and the big smiles on the kids faces for the opportunity to do so, the key thing that keeps coming up with conversations I am having from various stakeholders is the lack of clear direction they are getting from various sources.

As this pandemic we have have all had to face since it started to spread across the globe earlier this year leading to complete shut down of all sports, as it is the first of its kind (hopefully the last), we are all in essence learning how to improvise, adapt and overcome.

Some of the recent discussions I have had with people that I have interviewed for our upcoming Youth Sports Virtual Summit as well as others I have connected with is the biggest challenge is the dissemination of the information to those with their boots on the ground so to speak, the coaches, the players, the officials, board members and other youth sports stakeholders.

A couple of the most recent examples include;

CALIFORNIA

Probably the most extreme example of the breakdown in communication is what happened in California recently from this article shared July 1st.

State recants on Team Sports activities

According to the reporter, many counties were giving the go ahead for drills with no team contact earlier in June, then a few weeks later issued this statement

They subsequently shared there would share further guidance but until such time they did, any youth sports teams that return to play may be guilty of a misdeamour?

All of the youth sports leaders I have connected with the last couple of months have shared their pain points not only in coming up with their return to play guidelines to ensure they meet health authority protocols for physical distancing, sanitization, cohort groups and so forth, but the other big issue has pertained to ensure they have insurance and will not be held liable in the event a stakeholder is tested positive.

Now the State of California is compounded that liability where a volunteer youth sports coach, official, board member will potentially be charged with a criminal offence even though they gave the green light to return provided they adhered to the state guidelines?

CONNECTICUT

Another example was shared to me by my good friend Steve Boyle, founder of 241 sports, whom we partnered with to host the first Canadian 241 Sport Sampling Camp in New Westminster the last week of July.

He shared that the state of Connecticut where he was hosting his first US camp changed the cohort restriction from 10 to 14 and he then shared it with all his parents at the camp would be shifting to larger cohort groups for the remainder of the week as a result.

Soonafter he sent the notice to all of the parents the campers he received an email from a parent saying NO, I signed up my kids to participate in this camp based on all the safety guidelines that you assured us would enforce to mitigate as much risk as possible.

In lieu of emailing her back, he called her and shifted back to maintain the original plan stating I learned “don’t change the rules in the middle of the game”

As Project Plays recent survey shared, over 50 % of parents are leary that their kids may get sick when return back to play as well as similar number shared they were leary they would get sick due to their kids coming out of the safe havens of their homes.

Although the risk for children below the age of 13 is very, very low to contract the virus, in lieu of health authorities or governments/national government bodies changing the rules on the fly, they should be implementing firm plans of action to ensure that they not only flatten the spread of COVID-19 but prevent a further outbreak this fall.

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Below is the quote that Dr. Bonnie Henry has now become infamous for as she has ended each of her COVID-19 updates for all residents of British Columbia, the first time she did so was on St. Patricks Day Mar 17, 2020, 2 days after she and provincial government that we had entered into a state of emergency and staying at home would be necessary so we could flatten the curve. She has now done her regular update for 156 consecutive days since … now a local hero and even they young ones say “Bonnie is keeping us safe”

Thanks to Bonnie staying the course since she recently was highlighted in the New York Times as the Doctor that aced the Coronavirus test for the amazing work she and her team have done to flatten the curve.

This is why I was dumbfounded that Gary Bettman and the rest of the NHL executive team opted to choose another host city to host half of the teams for their upcoming “bubble” stanley cup tournament. In lieu of going to THE city that has done the best to curb the spread of COVID-19 and compromise in terms of requirements issued to comply to keep 5 Million residents of BC safe, the NHL opted to go to two alternate cities, one being Toronto that is in one of Canada’s largest provinces with 15X the outbreak of COVID-19 than BC.

Personally, if I was a NHL player, coach, manager I would want to go to a city that would rather err on the side of caution to ensure the safety of all those that will be entering the bubble.

That said, I know many people I have talked to about the upcoming playoffs and as a result of not seen hockey or any others sports on tv for months, many say they actually are unsure if they will be glued to their TV’s for hours a day when the playoffs for the NHL, NBA as well as start of MLB.

There are various youth sports examples I can share as well, but at the end of the day what I believe, as do many I have talked to all the way up to national governing bodies in Canada, US and abroad is the youth sports landscape will be different at least for the fall, perhaps going into 2021 until a vaccine or treatment is available.

Until then, whatever hat you wear in the youth sports landscape, please stay the course and follow all of your health authority and governing bodies guidelines so we can flatten the curve and get out from under this pandemic.

The last thing any of need is another outbreak this fall if we don’t stay on track, be patient and per Bonnie

Be Kind – Be Calm – Be Safe

It would be great to see if this become PSA’s at various youth sports facilities when we do return to games again don’t you think?

Imagine if everyone in youth sports were kind to each other (vs. pre covid when adults were screaming at players, officials, other adults)

Imagine everyone was calm even when a kid made a mistake, or an official missed a call

Imagine if youth sports becomes safe to fail again like it should be, not what it had become.

Let’s all work together to bring the game back to the kids …. one day at a time, as safely as we can.

Will 4 on 4 be the “new” normal?

Posted June 27, 2020January 27, 2022 Glen MulcahyPosted in Athlete, Coach, COVID-19, Parents

It is so exciting to see the globe enter different phases post COVID-19 quarantine period start put all sports on hold mid March as well as other sectors coming back.

I think one of the biggest milestones for yours truly was when I finally was able to get my hair cut again, normally I do so every month, and the last appointment I had pre Covid just before quarantine period was on March 9^th so come June 19^th when I got to see my “stylist” of 25+ years was just one of many examples how we are returning back.

I recently read another great article that JJ Adams wrote for the Vancouver Sun and Province newspapers “Rec hockey overhauled to keep it fun, less risky”

The online version of the same article in the Sun Newspaper (yes, there are still people that read the paper, yours truly is one as my first “job” was carrier for the Sun for 8 years) starts with the quote that I shared in our newsletter …..

One of the main contributors to the article that JJ talked to was the CEO of Canlan Ice Sports, who run 3 multi sheet ice rinks in the Vancouver and 12 others in Canada and Illinois.

He shared how they have reinvented the format for both their adult and youth recreational leagues which I am very familiar with, having coached in all of the facilities for years and then when my son’s minor hockey “career” was over, in lieu of pursuing the junior hockey path he found very frustrating (as did I), he accepted an invitation to play for an adult team playing in ASHL tier 1 even though he was 18 at the time.

He was able to play 2 seasons with that team but like all others, his season ended March 13^th, 2020 and I know he is itching to return to play once a week with his buds as his hockey bag still sits fully packed in our garage.

I shared the highlights of the article at one of our many home cooked dinners we have had the last few months and he shared one of his fondest memories playing hockey growing up we not the 5 on 5 recreational or competitive teams he played for, but was the spring 3 on 3 on smaller ice surfaces or 3 on 3 , 4 on 4 on full ice with modified rules.

For me as well, that was some of my fondest memories, going back to watching him play with the “big boys” when he was invited to play 3 on 3 with his counterparts who were all a year older for his first spring “season” of 12 games from end of March to mid June once a week.

We played in a faculty that had 3 smaller ice surfaces that became a go to for many associations in the winter for practices, small area games and then a natural fit for cross ice hockey (ice sheets are approx. 45% smaller than a full sheet)

3 on 3 had rules to keep the flow going of the game including floating blue line (once entered the offensive zone the red line then became the blue line to keep the puck moving), changing on the fly (vs .buzzers that were being used from H1-4 when we did play full ice) and no penalties, only penalty shots. No body checking for all age groups also.

Each year thereafter he would ask me to put a team together as he had so much fun so we did and many of the original players and goalies returned year after year as they had so much fun.

Even coaches had fun, as did parents who watched many of the games from the pub (many of which would sure one of their counterparts would be the DD)

When the boys got into their teens, one of the players grandparents was the head skills developer for one of the Canlan sheets near us and asked us if they boys would like to try full ice 4 on 4 or 3 on 3 which is what really kept the bug going for my son and all of his friends.

THEY Loved both options, and although scores were kept, it was literally watching pond hockey and although I was their coach, I encouraged them all the time to just go out there and have fun, they already had their winter seasons with plenty of competitive games and practices, this was just an opportunity to keep their skate legs going once a week in the offseason.

My daughter also played one season of “fun hockey” with one of her softball counterparts, even though she could barely skate at the time, so Canlan and the other private facilities do have several fun progams and youth and adults to consider (although I am not a fan of the competitive spring hockey model that has evolved as have have shared for years)

So when I saw how Canlan was improvising so kids and adults could return back to play I same some of the similar rules we had played with as well as new ones so they could ensure that those that returned back to play could do so safely.

Canlan, like many other multi-sheet corporations like Planet Ice are privately held and run, and their recreational leagues do not fall under the umbrella of Hockey Canada.

The upside for them (and for all the hockey keeners from youth to adults) is they can run programs year round but the cons are the coaches or officials do not have to be Hockey Canada certified, nor do they qualify for Hockey Canada’s insurance program which Tom Renney et al have announced the contagious disclaimer is going to remain unchanged until 2024 to permit local hockey associations to return to play in the fall.

Some of the things that Canlan is doing to permit their leagues to start up again when physical distancing permits

#1 – In lieu of 5 on 5 (with goalie), they will be 4 on 4 (with a goalie) for cohort groups of 10 per bench (8 skaters, one goalie, one coach)

This will permit more space between the players during game play and comply with current PHO cohort guidelines

#2 – NO penalties, in lieu penalty shots (think basketball free throw)

The difference with the way penalty shots will be done Post COVID-19 is those that are awarded the penalty shot in lieu of puck being placed on the centre ice face-off dot and player skating in on a breakaway, the puck will be place in between the hashmarks and players will have to shoot for there to try and score.

OK potentially for adults, teenage players who will have the physical strength to do so, not so much for players U12 but that will adhere to the LTAD models that are restricting competitive games

# 3 – Face masks – Canlan is also working with Bauer for various of masks that players can use while playing, as well as ones for coaches, administrators, on ice officials and even parents/fans

#4 – No Face-offs – Ensures Physical Distancing is adhered to with two 10 minute running time periods (vs. 3 15-20 minute stop time)

#5 – Refs will have electronic whistles (pushing a button vs. blowing thru)

#6 – Social Distancing Dots on the bench (for 4 additional players to sit and coach to stand)

#7 – Water Bottle Shield on the bench

** Pre-Covid, it was amazing how few players brought water bottles to practices when I was doing coach evaluations … I suspect that the awareness created with COVID that will no longer need a reminder

#8 – Pregame questionnaire and “zone control attendant” to ensure adhere to social distancing when come to the facility, will be escorted to their dressing rooms that has been marked to ensure players/goals get dressed 6’ or more apart

#9 – No Showers (yikes, that could lead to some stinky drives home)

#10 – No dilly dallying in the dressing rooms post game

Translation – NO BEER for the ASHL players and one of the best part of playing adult recreation team sports, the post-game rituals and conversations in the dressing room, dugout or benches so in lieu this means they will have to improvise, adapt and overcome (i.e. head to a pub or an empty parking lot and park all their cars and open bumpers, doors to permit social distancing and ensure can answer the first question everyone will have) …..

WHO HAS THE BEER (cooler, water etc)? (The Snack)

Before the last words everyone will say as they are closing their doors to head home

WHEN DO WE PLAY AGAIN?

Kudos to Canlan, Bauer and other organizations that are working on the ways so that can all return to play the games we love to play, coach, ref and watch as safely as possible.

Why do Officials “Officiate” (2020)

Posted June 16, 2020January 27, 2022 Glen MulcahyPosted in COVID-19, Officials

Why Officials Officiate – (2020)

A few years back I shared data in original post Why do Officials “Officiate” from what was the largest survey at the time of officials, one done by the national association of sports officials (NASA) where they received responses from 17,487 officials across the USA.

Fast forward to May 2020, I connected with Brenda Hilton, the founder of Officially Human whom I interviewed for our upcoming Youth Sports Virtual Summit along with several others and she shared with me that they had done a followup survey in partnership with IUPUI Sports Information Institute, School of Health and Human Sciences in Illinois.

The survey was done in the Fall of 2019 and just shy of 19,000 officials responded from 15 states in the USA and they prepared an infographic in PDF format that you can download HERE.

Below are highlights from the survey where I have compared results below each image from the one done in 2017

One of the issues in recent years that was identified by the NASO survey and also in recent SII survey is that officials involved in sports are getting older and as a result of COVID-19 there may be a real as youth sports start to ramp up again where many may be leery of returning due to safety concerns, in lieu of verbal abuse, however, from exposure to COVID-19 virus until a vaccine is developed in 2021

The #1 reason they become officials is the same, For The Love of The Game, as is the number 1 reason for quitting, verbal abuse, and almost 60% don’t feel respected by parents and fans.

The sports that have the largest % of shortages are Soccer, Field Hockey, Lacrosse, and Baseball.

Officials also do so to stay in shape and make money (the majority of which is a small honorarium but some do make a living as officials at the higher levels)

The Second reason that officials quit is the verbal abuse from coaches, it is not just the parents and fans in the stands and sidelines that can be abusive, I have seen more than my fair share of coaches screaming at refs because they felt they missed or made a bad call which is something I remind all of during workshops and clinics.

Almost all of those that responded (96%) felt that they should see an increase in pay of at least 10%!

58% of the officials stated they are getting to work the games they want to find the process of how they are assigned to games unclear, and 1/3 stated the reason they don’t get assigned the games they want is they have to attend camps to do so but are not worth the financial outlay to attend.

Key takeaways for organizations that are looking at attracting, retaining, and growing their number of officials as youth sports slowly return back to play post-COVID-19:

#1 – Parent and Coach Education reinforcing the importance of respecting the officials including codes of conduct for appropriate behavior and positive messaging in all common areas

#2 – Reduce costs for camps/clinics so officials see the value to them

In the 2017 NASO study, much of what officials earn in their seasons is taken up in terms their out of pocket costs for necessary equipment, potentially travel expenses, meals while at tournaments, attending clinics, camps etc.

#3 – Develop Rules Education programs for coaches, parents and fans so they are aware of the respective playing “rules of the game”.

#4 – Raise their pay by 10% (or more)

Minimum wage continues to increase year over year, in my home province has increased 25% the last 3 years so youth sport organizations need to recognize that their staff including paid officials should be compensated relative to costs of living

#5 – Implement mentoring programs for youth officials to be paired with tenured officials before they age out. As the stats showed over half of the officials are over 55 years of age and the level of experience of 45% of officials is less than 6 years!!

This is largely due to the fact that rates of attrition that many sports groups face is as high as 50% of their first year officials and 30% each year thereafter

#6 – Make if Fun for ALL stakeholders, much like players, coaches, officials will only return each year if they enjoy the experience and will quit when it no longer is.

#7 – Implement policies to address poor fan or coach behavior during games so that they are removed from the facilities vs. putting the onus on the officials to say “you’re outta here” only. Many will be reluctant, as well as unqualified to do so, in their first few years to tell parents to leave so they will need support from other adults

I worked for BC Place Stadium in Security for years, and when fans became unruly, it was really simple .. we escorted them out of the facility. Why we have condoned inappropriate behavior in youth sports for years now makes no sense, kids quit, officials quit, coaches quit as a result.

#8 – Reward positive behavior by fans, coaches who demonstrate good sportsmanship in the stands towards officials, the game, players etc.

It could be as simple as coaches sharing with other coaches that their parent groups were awesome, please share our thanks to them for making this such a great experience and game to play.

As the cliche goes, you get much farther with honey than vinegar

#9 – Those that are in sports with shortages, start recruiting, training, mentorships programs NOW before games and tournaments are permitted in phase III/IV Post COVID-19.

#10 – Appreciate that the #1 reason why officials officiate is For The Love of The Game and focus on making the game GREAT for all stakeholders. This not only will help retain officials but players, coaches, board members, and all others in your organizations so you can GROW your memberships … something that is going to be a challenge as sports return back to play.