As some states and communities return to youth sports during the COVID-19 pandemic, many parents are trying to navigate this new experience on their own. Project Play is here to help. While some questions are best answered by public health experts based on local conditions, there are guidelines and best practices that are very useful. We will periodically answer youth sports parents’ questions in this Project Play Parent Mailbag. Got a question? Submit it in the space on the right side of this page or email jon.solomon@aspeninstitute.org.
Do you think sports leagues, especially travel teams, should be upfront about their refund policies? Our club is not answering questions regarding finances in its plan to play.
Laura Beatty
Yes, transparency about refunds is vital to build and maintain trust with parents. The pandemic is a good opportunity for parents to ask questions and better understand how their money is being spent. The reality is that many youth sports organizations are hurting financially, and unfortunately, some will fold. Smart organizations have openly communicated with families for months while still trying to show value, such as virtual training and coaches checking on players.
Some organizations offer refund requests to be applied as credits in a future season, or they ask families to donate payments for a cancelled season to help with costs. Those are perfectly acceptable alternatives for organizations to seek. But if a parent wants a refund – either because games got cancelled or a family doesn’t feel comfortable playing – the organization should provide it. Many families are also hurting financially during the pandemic, or not convinced that their organization can provide sports in a safe manner.
You’re not alone with your frustration. In Boston, some parents are struggling to get refunds from spring sports that were not played. One father of a club soccer player told WCBV 5 he’s disappointed that he received a $127 refund for year-round soccer that costs $2,500. The season was supposed to run from August 2019-May 2020; seven games were missed. The club, which will no longer be independently operated, told parents they will receive a 15% refund off the spring fee while run by a new organization.
“We had an immediate exchange amongst the parents and were very frustrated in the lack of transparency,” said the father, who wants to know more about where the money went. “It’s not just about the money, it’s about the principle.”
In Maryland, about 1,200 people have signed a petition seeking refunds from the Calvert Soccer Association (CSA) due to a cancelled season. According to the petition, families have been asking unsuccessfully for a partial or full refund in order to pay bills due to job layoffs. The petition says that CSA board meeting notes show that the association received money from the Paycheck Protection Program, combined two staff positions and raised the salary by $10,000, and authorized a $3,000 bonus for the travel administrator for summer work that was needed.
The Maryland Attorney General Office has five open filed complaints against the organization. CSA told WJLA News that it previously communicated with members that parents would receive full credits for summer and fall recreational programs, and “substantial” partial credits for the 2021 spring season for those who can’t utilize credits by the fall. CSA said final accounting of the spring season will determine the exact amounts of the partial credits.
Lisa Frates, executive director of the Bethesda (Maryland) Soccer Club, advises that organizations openly share insight with families about how and why decisions get made. “It’s not just (participants showing up) at a place to play a game,” Frates said. “There are referees, there are leagues, there are governing bodies. Showing them how everything is connected is really important.”
Before signing up for the fall, parents should check their organization’s refund policy (including any waivers they have to sign) and ask about its refund plan if COVID-19 shuts down the season early. And get all of this in writing.
One smart approach for fall sports: Have parents register now, but without payments. That allows commissioners to prepare for the season based on the number of kids expected to play and gives parents flexibility since guidelines and information about COVID-19 is so fluid. When a league knows it can return to play, then registrations can be activated for parents to either pay or elect not to play this season based on their personal situation.
What should we look for from hockey rinks in terms of ventilation and air cleanliness?
Mark Savage
In May, the U.S. Ice Rink Association, US Figure Skating and USA Hockey put out guidelines about how to reopen rinks. Among the suggestions: Have players come to the rink dressed in full equipment, limit or eliminate access to locker rooms, and have physically distanced seating in common areas and on benches. However, the guidelines don’t address air ventilation, even though we know from scientists that the virus is more likely to spread indoors than outdoors.
“If playing inside, ensure ventilation systems or fans operate properly,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote in its considerations for sports document. “Increase circulation of outdoor air as much as possible, for example by opening windows and doors. Do not open windows and doors if doing so poses a safety or health risk (e.g., risk of falling or triggering asthma symptoms) to players or others using the facility.”
So, what does proper ventilation mean? A study published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information offers detailed advice on indoor ventilation and filtering, including minimum required ventilation flow rates for sports buildings.
“Displace ventilation generally leads to lower aerosol concentrations in the occupied zone and an overall better ventilation efficiency than mixing ventilation, but locating diffusors and ducts near the floor is not always feasible,” the study said. “Mixing ventilation is easier to implement with diffusors and ducts near the ceiling but generally leads to more evenly distributed and overall higher aerosol concentrations in the enclosure. To our knowledge, the vast majority of indoor sports centers are equipped with mixing ventilation systems, but in view of reducing infection risk, the future design of such centers could benefit from displacement ventilation systems if sufficient buoyancy forces will act to generate upward movement of the air.”
What’s going to happen with high school sports in the fall? I’m confused if my son will be able to play football this season or not.
Allison Farber
There are lots of unknowns. Decisions will play out on a state-by-state basis, and some even by counties or cities. MaxPreps is keep tabs of where high school sports stand in all 50 states.
New Mexico became the first state to move football to the spring (along with boys soccer, since it’s also considered a contact sport). Non-contact fall sports will be reviewed and the start of their seasons are delayed.
New Jersey pushed back the start of fall sports by one month and shortened the postseason. Football starts on Oct. 2. The New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association is deemphasizing postseason competition for the fall, acknowledging that running a traditional sectional tournament isn’t possible this year. The postseason format hasn’t been set yet. Teams that don’t wish to play in the postseason can schedule regular-season games those two weeks.
West Virginia plans to delay the start of fall sports for about a month due to a rise in COVID-19 cases. Football practice will now begin Sept. 3, though the current three-week summer training for all sports will continue through the end of July.
Florida, Tennessee and Arizona are also looking at later start dates. The bottom line: Other than New Mexico’s cancellation of fall football and soccer, nothing is clear yet for high school sports. Plans will likely continue to evolve, especially as school decisions are finalized. On Monday, the Los Angeles and San Diego public school districts announced they will only do remote learning in the fall. The National Federation of State High School Associations has a 16-page document with guidance on how to reopen high school sports and is offering a free online course about reopening.
We will periodically answer youth sports parents’ questions in this Project Play Parent Mailbag. Got a question? Submit it in the form in this page’s sidebar or email jon.solomon@aspeninstitute.org.
