The National Academy of Athletics surveyed 360 youth sport parents from California about the reintroduction of in-person sports camps. The objective was to assess the comfort level of families in regard to enrolling their kids in safely adjusted, in-person sport camps. The NAofA has compiled the data from the survey in this article in order to share the results.

This youth sports survey revealed the parent’s comfort levels on a scale of 1-10. The graph above shows that the largest percentage of parents feel extremely comfortable (10) with a return to youth sports. In fact, 70.5% of parents put themselves on the scale at comfort level 7 and above. On the other hand, 9% of parents still feel extremely uncomfortable with the reintroduction of youth sports programs and labeled themselves as a level 1.

A majority of parents are anxious to start enrolling their children in sports activities now. In the “other” category, 1.5% are only currently considering Virtual Physical Activities.

HEALTH EXPERTS OPINION

Public health experts recommend a phased return to youth sports. First, beginning with individual drills and practices.  Then, progressing to games and local tournaments. With every step there is an additional level of risk, according to guidelines released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week.  For example, due to the possibility of transmitting COVID-19 between communities, travel sports leagues and tournaments are categorized by the CDC as “highest risk.”

The Aspen Institute has been rolling out sport-specific guidance as part of its “Return to Play” initiative in recent weeks. The NAofA has made adjustments to our signature sports camps to accommodate social distancing and usage of our equipment.

At the National Academy of Athletics, our main priority is the safety of the youth in the communities we serve. We want to ensure that families feel comfortable with the protocols we are putting in place when taking part in our sports programs. You can view our current active protocols we are using to ensure a safe environment for our participants here. We will continue to monitor and update these to keep our young athletes safe. The NAofA is continually monitoring the CDC, Aspen Institute, along with state and local regulations.

To help us get a wider audience response, if you have not yet participated in the youth sports survey for parents, please do so here. We will continue to share our feedback as we all work together to get youth sports back into the lives of our children, in the safest way possible.