Changes in schools amid COVID creates new challenges for student athletes
- Craig Clark
- 28 Aug 2020
Although a lot of the conversation surrounding schools has been about their safe reopening, the changes to the academic year has given student athletes a whole new group of challenges to get a scholarship to their dream school.
While all major sports leagues and tournaments were shut down amid the COVID-19 lockdown, scouting and recruiting of youth talent continued through a comprehensive network of post-secondary schools, teams, athletic recruiters, youth athletes, and parents.
“When all the shutdowns happened back in March, many of the various sports leagues were put on hiatus and eventually were cancelled. In turn, that put a halt on student athlete’s chances to get out onto the field, ice, or court to work on their skills,” said Rob Spehar, Athletic Talent Scout at Hudson Athletic Recruiting.
“No practice and no games can make an athlete rusty and it could take a while to work out the kinks. You can imagine the concern that comes over them when they are unable to work on a passion of their own.”
Hudson Athletic Recruiting focuses on athletic prospects aged 13 to 17 who have aspirations of pursuing an NCAA, NAIA, NJCAA, CCAA, or U-sports scholarship opportunity. They have scouts all over Canada specializing in various sports including football, baseball, hockey, track and field, soccer, and tennis.
In order to keep student athletes working while access to schools and facilities were limited, Spehar said that Hudson Athletic got creative. They had a mutual understanding with parents and students that the restrictions amid the pandemic would have a negative impact on someone’s athletics and academics.
Hudson Athletic provided home workout and goal setting information to keep the athlete’s physical side maintained. They also provided webinars and one-on-one conversations with students to ensure they were prepared for the summer. However, one of the biggest concerns among high school athletes has been maintaining their academics at the required level while so many parts of school has changed due to the shutdown.
“Just like that, it went from in-class learning to online. It is not the same when you learn online compared to learning in the classroom. That could have affected the student’s grades when trying to keep their GPA high enough to be considered for post-secondary placement,” said Spehar.
Many students have been learning online during a constantly changing environment that reduces a student athlete’s access to resources. And with many post-secondary classes online and their sports programs postponed or cancelled, there has been many missed opportunities for student athletes.
Spehar said that in some cases students have walked away from university or college sports due to the uncertainty around the modifications to a lot of the programming in place for student athletes.
“With the extra added pressure that the pandemic is putting on student athletes, it is not irrational to think that this could affect grades due to greater mental strain and limited access to schools. The closure of sports, schools, and athletic facilities can seriously affect the future plans of student-athletes across Canada,” said Spehar.
Although there has been a lot of uncertainty around the academic side of student athletes, it’s been even more so important for scouts and recruits to properly showcase their skills to prospective schools and teams.
A lot of the recruiting process was already moving online before COVID, so Hudson Athletic was already prepared for the challenges with helping student athletes during the lockdown.
Many of the in-person meetings have been put on hold for the time being says Spehar. But video has been a powerful tool in showcasing an athlete’s skills as well as communicating with coaches and schools internationally. Like many industries, the Zoom call has replaced some of the more personable encounters in sports recruitment.
“COVID has impacted the structure for sports as a whole, and the ability for scouts and teams to travel. This means that both sides of the equation (players and schools) are looking for additional information and support to navigate a difficult time period effectively,” said Spehar.
Hudson Athletic and Spehar have been able to support their student athletes in building their skills in their respective sport, but maintaining their GPA continues to be up to the student while the plans for high school and post-secondary constantly changes. The lack of plan has left a lot of students and parents frustrated that chances have been missed due to cancellations, closures, and changes.
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