COVID 19 is a new illness that can effect your lungs and airway, it can lead to pneumonia. (NHS,2020) The signs of COVID 19 include; a high temperature, a new continuous cough and the loss of smell. (NHS, 2020) on the 15th September 2020 there was 3103 cases in the UK alone and 374,228 cases overall. (Gov.UK, 2020)
There was some key dates associated with COVID 19:
- 21st December 2019 a unknown pneumonia liked disease became present
- 11th January the first recorded COVID 10 death
- 25th January travel restrictions was put into place
- 13th March Sports events started to be cancelled
- 20th March complete lockdown
- 17th June the Premier league restarted
Coronavirus has had a huge impact on school sports and PE, community cubs and professional sports club. This is because they had to stop for a lengthy period of time and also the many restrictions that all the clubs must follow.
School sport and PE have been effected as the sports they can do are limited as they must try to do sports that require as little contact as possible to maintain social distancing. They may have to create a bubble system within the school therefore meaning the session will end up mixed ability therefore the session being not beneficial for anyone. Furthermore, the session timings are effected as changing times take longer therefore the actual session doesn’t last as long therefore the participants will miss out on valuable learning.
Community clubs have been effected as they have to get every member to take part in the track and trace system therefore if one player from a certain team tests positive any team that have been in contact with that one person can’t train or play matches for two weeks therefore having an impact on matches fitness and a potential to mis out on a key training session. Money has also been a huge factor towards community clubs as they have not been collecting subs through lockdown meaning some clubs may not be able to afford to stay open due to lack of funds, this means a lot of players may drop out of the sport.
Professional sports have been impact by COVID as they have to test each player on a regular basis and if any player has it they have to go into self isolation for ten days meaning they miss out and therefore lose match sharpness. Teams also have a bubble system set up meaning they may not be able to see family members as they are at risk of getting the virus from them, this could have a mental impact on the player as their mind might not be fully focussed.
How has it impacted me?
COVID has had a huge impact on my coaching: (Negative)
- Lack of coaching time- as I have missed over 24 hours of valuable coaching experience
- Lack of opportunity to now coach in a school which is needed to support my progression into teaching
- Many environments won’t take on for work experience as they don’t want to risk more COVID cases
Positive impacts COVID has had:
- Online workshops have become available as free training opportunities to support my CPD
- Time to plan sessions over lockdown
- Can reflect on previous session and see how to improve
Here is an example of a socially distanced football drilled that I have carried out throughout my coaching practice. This activity is socially safe as there is no contact between players as they are all at least 2M apart. Only one ball will be used and no one will handle the ball. Furthermore, each player will have hand sanitised prior to the drill and the footballs will have been wiped down. This type of session, although not ideal, can still improve the teams play as it is working on balls being crossed in from the wides areas and also focussing on getting your shots on target and precision over power.
Reference list
NHS (2020). Coronavirus (COVID-19) Retrieved from 23/09/20, from www.nhs.uk
GOV.UK (2020). Coronavirus (COVID-19) Retrieved from 23/09/20, from www.gov.uk
Reflective Coach 