Youth baseball struggles with health and safety guidelines

The guidelines required parents to give each other space. For players to limit physical interactions. For coaches to stand apart during huddle and mound visits. To play baseball from a safe social distance.

However, a recent travel tournament for 14-year-olds at the Texas Rangers Spring Training Facility in Surprise, Arizona, with 17 California-based teams participating, mirroring many other youth sporting events, I have returned to the whole country in the past few weeks. —Most parents still gathered in a small shade, many players slap their hands between bats, and only a handful of participants wore masks on a blistering summer afternoon.

Without the plastic shield in front of the snack bar you would have forgotten Pandemic..

“We strive to make sure that people follow [rules] Brad Clement, CEO of Perfect Games USA, the organization that performed the event in Arizona, said: “But it’s not illustrated, so it’s impossible to know for sure.”

But Challenge to all sports, This compliance conundrum is particularly well suited in the largely autonomous world of youth sports, where extensive testing requirements are impractical. Directors vary greatly from tournament to tournament. Also, coaches, players, and parents are usually trusted to follow the guidelines themselves.

“Youth sports do not have the power to govern,” said John Solomon, editorial director of sports and social programs at the Aspen Institute. “There are many well-meaning sports organizations that publish really thoughtful guidelines and rules for specific sports and sports in general, but it is up to each organization to apply it.”

Critics have questioned whether youth sports can really return to safety, especially as the number of cases of COVID-19 nationwide continues to grow. They fear the industry is returning too quickly, and are concerned that financial factors and parental pressure have overrided the best possible practices.

“If you are an elite travel sports team that has missed really high tournament fees or registration fees for several months, some of them push the limits and are a little more aggressive return home,” Solomon said about the industry. He said he was estimated to be worth over $19 billion.

“For many of them, especially for travel sports clubs and tournaments, this is their livelihood,” he added.

Of particular concern are travel tournaments that bring together teams from several states. Dr. Alison Brooks, who specializes in pediatric and adolescent primary care sports medicine at the University of Wisconsin, said such events should not happen.

“You should stay in the local community,” she added. “Playing in your own team, league, or in the immediate vicinity of you.”

Some sports, especially in-season sports such as baseball and softball, host events in markets that the local government permits. In addition to travel team tournaments, the Little League season is underway in several states, but not in California. The Little League website recommends that local leagues follow the guidelines set by state and local officials.

“We believe that it’s of great value for young people to go out and have fun in an energetic and hopefully safe and healthy way,” said Perfect Games Organization from late May on over 100. Said Clement, who is hosting a tournament in. .. “If you can reach that point, it’s better.”

There was a limit. Most youth sports events in California remain deferred. Arizona tournaments, including the perfect game event until the end of July, have been postponed. The US Baseball National Team Championships scheduled for late July and early August in Arizona and Florida were canceled last week. John Miller, COO of USA Softball, said the sports management organization has closed nearly half of the national championships.

Organizations performing travel baseball tournaments throughout Southern California, such as the USSSA, Triple Crown, Baseball Factory, and Prep Baseball Report, will be closed primarily because there are very few open fields.

However, in many other parts of the country, youth sports continue to be promoted, leaving coaches and staff responsible for adhering to the guidelines.

“I sometimes feel like a sergeant,” said Edgar Garcia, who leads the baseball program for the PFA Matador Club based in Pasadena, one of the participants in the Surprise, Arizona event. “As a coach, you need to make sure they follow the rules.”

Before his team traveled to Arizona, Garcia pleaded with an email asking his team’s parents to be away using masks. Throughout the game, he always gave his players a reminder—Do not high-five, do not chew gum, do not share water, do not sit too close! ”— had Has little to do with baseball..

But whenever he looked around the four-field complex, he saw the other teams not taking the precautions seriously.

“I’m frustrated,” he said. “What’s wrong with that in the world? We’re all trying to do our part. Some people don’t mind fighting not to wear a mask. So that’s how difficult it is. Is it?”

The benefits of bringing young people back into sport are clear. Especially after months of limited social interaction and physical competition. However, Brooks and Solomon believed that a more cautious approach, such as localized tiered returns, could produce the same effect, rather than large-scale travel tournament play.

“That’s not the way they were playing sports before the pandemic,” Brooks said. “There, I’m hoping coaches, parents and leagues will manage expectations.”

Added Solomon: “In many ways it reflects much of our society. Some of us in society are resuming very quickly, sometimes too soon. Our Some have passed more careful and appropriate guidelines.”