Reopening Collegiate Recreation During COVID-19: A Case Study of Plans and Policies

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic caused most collegiate recreation facilities and programs to shut down to slow the spread of the virus. Public health guidelines from the state/province, federal, and global level have inundated recreation professionals with messaging to inform reopening strategies. Rasmussen’s risk management framework served as a guide to explore the stakeholders, decisions, and environmental conditions influencing COVID-19 reopening plans and policies in collegiate recreation. A case study of four collegiate recreation departments was conducted, with document analysis employed to examine and interpret reopening plans. The findings highlight campus offices and leadership as major stakeholders in reopening guidelines; risk management decisions utilizing a phased reopening approach that emphasized screening, mask mandates, social distancing and touch points, equipment and floor plans, and cleaning; and communication as a critical environmental condition. Implications for collegiate recreation practitioners include strategies for decision making, dissemination of information, staff training, risk mitigation, and policy enforcement.

The Scope of Risk Management Policies and Practices Within Collegiate Recreational Sports: Reinvigorating the Conversation

“…Given the study took place after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which largely shut down college campuses and recreation centers across North America, this finding is worth emphasizing. The pandemic closures of 2020 have undoubtedly changed the expectations and awareness levels of users within recreational facilities with regard to disease prevention, cleanliness, and sanitation (Anderson et al, 2022; Lower-Hoppe et al, 2022). While emergency action plans have historically dealt with the transmission of bloodborne pathogens and other more dramatic forms of disease prevention (i.e., MRSA), care should now be taken to include more holistic and encompassing plans and procedures toward disease prevention of all types.…”

“…Relatedly, the most recent risk management-focused research within campus recreational sports reviewed recreation facility reopening plans after the pandemic lockdown (Lower-Hoppe et al, 2022). This research asserted that campus recreational sport professionals act as key stakeholders in implementing and adapting risk management policies in an uncertain situation (a pandemic).…”

“…For example, laws from government agencies need to be communicated to organizations, while organizations need to lobby for risk management needs based on what is happening on the ground. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, fitness and recreation facilities would provide transmission data to government agencies (Lower-Hoppe et al, 2022). While the top level of this framework necessarily informs the other levels, the focus of this study emphasizes the creation and implementation of policies by recreational sport organizations-levels two and three.…”

“…The most recent data on risk management practices found that 95% of intramural sport programs provide risk management employee training (Lee et al, 2010). Specific to risk during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, one recent study explored the role of COVID-19 risk mitigation policies and procedures, participant risk assessment, and participation in campus recreation (Anderson et al, 2022), while a second study reviewed the risk management planning in the reopening of campus recreation facilities after the initial COVID lockdowns (Lower-Hoppe et al, 2022).…”

Parents’ perceptions of their children’s physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…While there was excitement about returning to their regular activities, some parents were apprehensive about the safety of recreational places, particularly indoor recreational facilities, and want to ensure facilities were taking the necessary precautions before their children returned to activities. For indoor recreational places, the enforcement of practical protocols by service provider staff, such as COVID-19 screening at facility entry, limiting capacity, additional cleaning and sanitization of the facility and equipment, and customized rules for specific activities in addition to the general facility rules, can help mitigate the risk of COVID-19 spread [ 45 , 46 ]. Additionally, measures can be taken to make outdoor spaces safer by allocating additional road space to cyclists and keeping parks and green spaces open to help provide socially-distanced spaces for children to be active [ 9 ].…”