Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until September 2021.
Lesson Overview
Featured Article: “‘Everything Is Closed Down.’ The Lack of Youth Sports Is a Crisis,” by Kurt Streeter
According to several experts, despite a glut of sports on TV, there is a lack of youth leagues and teams during the coronavirus pandemic that could cost us for years to come.
In this lesson, you will consider how the pandemic is affecting youth sports both now and, potentially, long-term. You’ll then investigate the power that sports have in your community, and look closely at how athletes and teams are adapting.
Warm Up
Did you watch the Lakers win their 17th championship this weekend? What were your favorite moments?
What do you know about what made it possible for these games to happen safely in the first place? As Jared Dudley, a forward for the Lakers, told The Times, this is “one of the worst, strangest years” in the history of professional basketball. The article says:
Nothing about the 2019-20 N.B.A. season was normal. There were tragedies and triumphs, setbacks and highlights. When play finally resumed in July after a four-month hiatus brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, it began in a so-called bubble: a self-contained, spectator-free campus at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla., as the league — at no small cost — fought to the finish line.
Do you think it was worth it for the players to spend those many weeks in the “bubble” to make playing safe? If you were a player, would you have done it? Why or why not?
Before you read the article below, think about the youth sports in your community, where precautions like daily testing, which have cost the N.B.A. an estimated $180 million, are not possible. Answer these questions, in small groups or as a whole class if possible:
Which youth sports in your school or community have been canceled entirely as a result of the coronavirus pandemic? Which have been scaled back or changed? How are athletes and teams adapting?
How do you think these changes are affecting the athletes and teams, as well as the community at large? What long term effects do you think the pandemic may have on youth sports and athletes in your school or area? Why?
Questions for Writing and Discussion
Read the article, then answer the following questions:
1. Who is Tyrone Riley, and why is he worried?
2. Why do “sports barely exist at all” right now in communities like Watts? How much does your community resemble this one?
3. Why is this “a moment of historic crisis,” according to the director of the Sports and Society Program at the Aspen Institute? What does the program’s nationwide survey show?
4. Do you feel about a sport the way that Aaron Teklu, 17, describes the role of basketball in his life? If so, how has this sport changed your life?
5. How is the pandemic-fueled decline in youth participation, according to Rich Luker, “just one piece of a larger puzzle”? What may be the long-term ramifications? Do you think these may apply to your school or community as well?
6. Why do you think this journalist chose to end the article as he did? How does that last line play on a theme and structure that he had used throughout the piece? How would you answer his final question?
Going Further
Option 1: Investigate and Document the Power of Sports in Your Community
Tyrone Riley says he “knows to his core the power that sports can have in changing lives and bringing communities together.” Do you share that feeling?
How can you celebrate the power of sports in your school or area during a time when that power is threatened? What stories can you gather from athletes, coaches, parents or others about teams or athletes that show how sports can change lives and bring people together? Have you come across any new stories about how athletes are adapting now — like, for instance, the way that high school soccer is being played this season in Massachusetts? How is your community trying to hold on to the power of sports, even given the hurdles?
Investigate an aspect of this that interests you by interviewing a range of people currently involved in one or many youth sports. Then, create something to showcase what you find, whether a short video, an article for your school paper, a podcast, a photo essay, a graphic or even a live outdoor or virtual event. Knowing that many experts believe that what’s happening to youth sports right now could impact an entire generation, how can your contribution help?
Option 2: Design Your Own Fitness Program
Early on in this pandemic, we asked, How are you staying healthy and fit? Even if you don’t consider yourself an athlete, it’s important to have an exercise plan. What have you been doing so far? What, if anything, does your plan lack? One source of information for making sure you’re staying fit is Well, a Times health site. Take a look at Move, one section of the site, for advice from sneaking in exercise while on Zoom to using yoga to relax. What will work for you right now? Why? How will you help yourself to stay accountable to your plan?
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