Youth sports in the time of COVID-19

From safety protocols to soccer, rising stars to resilience

by

Lofty Goals

St. Louis builds on a rich soccer heritage.

Bill McDermott swears the floor shook.

It was June 26, 2014, and McDermott, affectionately known as St. Louis’ own “Mr. Soccer,” was standing inside Ballpark Village for the United States’ showdown with Germany in the group stage finale of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. As St. Louis native Brad Davis’ name appeared on screen in the Americans’ starting 11 during the final moments of the pregame buildup, the locals packed into the downtown venue jumped and roared.

“I’ve been in some loud environments,” says McDermott, a longtime soccer television broadcaster. “But the building was literally rocking because of the fact that a St. Louisan was going to appear in a World Cup game.”

Soon, McDermott expects to experience more raucous, soccer-centric scenes when the St. Louis CITY SC franchise takes the field in March 2023. For a market billed as the first soccer capital of the United States, the arrival of MLS will be the next milestone in St. Louis’ storied soccer history. And as the countdown to the first kick in North America’s premier professional soccer league continues, excitement and interest in the sport abounds.

“Soccer is built into the DNA of the community,” says Saint Louis University men’s soccer coach Kevin Kalish. “Not only has interest grown, not only is it more popular, but there are more kids playing not only on a recreational level but on a club soccer level as well.”

Indeed, the quantity of players in the region stacks up favorably with comparable U.S. markets. So, too, does the quality of players. The local high school and club circuits produce high-end talent, and, according to data compiled in 2019 by American Soccer. Now,

St. Louis ranks third nationally among U.S. population centers of more than 2.5 million people in professional players produced per capita.

St. Louis–bred talent is on display during every four-year cycle of the men’s and women’s World Cup events, particularly with the presence of women’s national team captain Becky Sauerbrunn, a Ladue product. On the men’s side, the Yanks have regularly featured a St. Louis presence on the roster, including the legendary 1950 World Cup team that topped England. That famous side featured five St. Louisans. Josh Sargent, a 21-year-old forward from O’Fallon, is poised to continue that tradition during the 2022 World Cup.

“When it comes to producing high-level pro players or international players, I think that’s a reflection of our community and our history,” Kalish says. “There have been tremendous coaches in the area over the decades, but it mostly points to the culture that’s here.”

That culture will be on full display in a dedicated home when St. Louis CITY SC’s new 22,500-seat stadium opens. “That’s another one of the aspects that St. Louis has to look forward to,” McDermott says. “Not only is MLS coming, but the city will now have a venue that will have a chance to be an option for U.S. Soccer to use for World Cup qualifiers.”

Level Up

St. Louis CITY SC signs its first eMLS player.

Hasib Zulfic might’ve been born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but he’s a St. Louis native at heart. Sulfic moved here at age 5 and grew up playing for the St. Louis Dragons, along with other soccer clubs. Last November, St. Louis CITY SC hosted two virtual scouting tournaments in search of a “homegrown player,” before signing Zulfic for this year’s eMLS competition. “Getting the opportunity to represent my hometown for the upcoming eMLS season is truly a dream come true,” says Sulfic. “I love everything this club represents for the St. Louis community, on and off the pitch, and I can’t wait for the season to start, so I can try to snag the first trophy for CITY and all the amazing fans.”

The Playing Field

A new initiative from St. Louis Scott Gallagher Soccer Club aims to empower women.

Scott McDoniel, program director for St. Louis Scott Gallagher Soccer Club’s girls division, wants players to learn how to score goals, control possession, and stop shots. But he doesn’t want the lessons to end when players leave the field.

That’s why the rollout of the club’s women’s leadership initiative feels so important to McDoniel. The program is designed to encourage personal growth, provide mentorship opportunities, and allow those interested in coaching to learn what it takes to manage a team.

The initiative has three components. First is a coaching education course focusing on in-game strategy and team management. Next is a role-model program matching high school–age players with younger girls. Last is a guest speaker series featuring former club players. The hope is to create more opportunities for representation among young women in the club. Along with the training and mentoring programs, McDoniel says SLSG has also been intentional in adding more women staffers to its coaching ranks.

In the last two years, the club has tripled the number of full- and part-time female coaches and doubled its number of volunteer female coaches. “It’s something our community needed,” McDoniel says.

The club’s emphasis on leadership training for its girls program comes at a time when women are leading the next generation of soccer in St. Louis. The forthcoming Major League Soccer team features the only majority women-led ownership group in the league. “They’re inspiring,” McDoniel says. “We’ve pointed out to folks in our program several times how amazing that is, that it’s something they can do, too.”

On the Move

Safety protocols continue to evolve.

Before the pandemic, we never gave a second thought to being in a packed arena full of unmasked people. Now, the idea seems unsettling. As restrictions continue to change, people have been left wondering about the latest protocols. Determining how to proceed poses multiple challenges for both spectators and athletes. “The level of risk depends on the sport,” says Dr. Jason Newland, a Washington University pediatric infectious disease specialist. “Outdoor sports, the actual playing of the game, and the interactions of the game have been safe… An indoor setting is different: We’ve seen [COVID-19] outbreaks in wrestling tournaments, basketball tournaments, volleyball. So you have to look at your options.” Gatherings beyond the games are another concern: “Team meals, sleepovers, celebrations—the more people, the odds go up that somebody has it.” Newland’s advice: “Get everyone vaccinated who can be vaccinated” and wear masks.

Time Out

The pandemic has given athletes time to reassess their commitments.

The ball fields were empty. The basketball courts were silent, and the ice rinks were thawed out. As the pandemic raged last year, COVID-19 left children on the sidelines.

For several months, the question focused on when games would begin again. Then, young athletes, parents, and coaches learned how to adjust to a new way of playing. As the slow transition to normalcy continues, the question now is, How have athletes and the sports they play been changed for good?

Because the interruptions weren’t universal, the implications might not be uniform. For young athletes, the experience over the past year and a half largely depended upon where they lived. Last fall, for instance, high-school programs in St. Charles and Jefferson counties began practicing in mid-August, just as they normally would, while teams in St. Louis City and County had to wait.

“Where you live greatly impacted your ability to play in sports based on the policies that were put in place,” says Jimmy Sanderson, a professor of sport management at Texas Tech University who’s researched the impact of COVID-19 on youth sports.

One worry is that pandemic-related job losses may widen the socioeconomic divide that was already present in youth sports, where access to top trainers and high-level showcase leagues comes with a hefty price tag. It’s possible, too, that significant downtime and, in some cases, lost seasons, could affect the developmental trajectory of athletes, though the extent may not be clear for some time.

“The caveat is that it sort of remains to be seen,” says Karl Erickson, an assistant professor at York University’s School of Kinesiology and Health Science. “If there are detriments, we don’t yet know if they will be long-term setbacks or minor hiccups.”

And yet, for all of the ill effects of the pandemic, some good may have come from it as well. For one, the downtime allowed athletes to take a step back from intense training schedules and rest their bodies. It’s also allowing athletes and their families time to reassess how much they want to invest in sports or if they want to find a new use of their time.

One new pursuit may be esports, a community that was already seeing a spike in interest before the pandemic. Popular streaming platform Twitch reported record viewership numbers in May 2021 as users watched a total of 2.2 billion hours of content, according to data compiled by StreamElements. And with more high schools and colleges adding esports programs to their menus of extracurricular offerings, it might not be long before traditional scholastic sports teams are competing for players with their schools’ esports squads.

“We had students this past year in my program who traditionally would have played another sport,” says Kris Miller, sponsor of the e-sports team at Francis Howell Central High School. “But they decided they weren’t going to try out this year and said, ‘I was borderline as a bench-warmer if I made the team, and I’d rather put my effort into this instead.’ We’re starting to see that a little bit.”

Although we don’t yet know how much the youth sports landscape will change in the years ahead, the past 18 months have raised questions about what it should and can look like.

“The pandemic may be a chance to shake the snow globe and say, ‘Oh, do I really like this thing I was doing before?’” Erickson says. “‘Do I want to try something new?’”

Against All Odds

High school athletes find a silver lining during the pandemic.

On their march to the first softball state championship in school history, the members of Webster Groves High School’s team developed a new routine. The COVID-19 pandemic taught the Statesmen that nothing was guaranteed—not their health, their games, or even the season at large. So before they took the field, players formed a socially distanced circle and shared something they were thankful for that day.

“Early on, we would say things like, ‘I’m thankful to be able to be here in person,’” says Ivy Clark, a junior on the team. “As we moved on, it was more like, ‘I’m so thankful to continue playing.’ It was a really big part in keeping us motivated.”

In a year of starts and stops, cancellations and rampant uncertainty, high school athletes faced new challenges in order to play the sports they love. In some cases, they couldn’t play at all.

That was the situation at another area high school early in the boys’ basketball season. Shortly after a game, the team learned that an opposing player had tested positive for the coronavirus, which meant several players would be forced to quarantine for two weeks, leaving the varsity squad unable to play. “Just seeing the disappointment in our kids was one of the hardest things,” the coach recalls.

The pandemic also forced students to look for the positive in tough situations and find ways to persevere in the face of adversity. “I think a lot of people surprised themselves, including me,” says Ladue Horton Watkins High School cross country and track and field athlete Johnny Martin. “We get used to doing the same things, and when we’re not really challenged much in our daily lives, we don’t think that we can fight through any sort of big adversity. The pandemic proved to me that I’m a lot tougher than I thought. Just because something bad happens doesn’t mean you can’t get better.”

Clark concurs. In late October, when she stood on the field at Springfield’s Killian Sports Complex and celebrated a state title, she thought about the preceding months, the days when she wasn’t even sure whether there would be a season and the long road to reach that happy ending.

Aniyah Brown

Cardinal Ritter College Prep High School

Sophomore, Track and Field

Long before she enrolled in high school, Brown knew how it felt to run fast and win big. Her victory in the 100-meter dash in the 9-year-old division at the 2015 AAU Junior Olympics was the first of several triumphs on the national stage. She took that momentum and applied it to her first year sprinting on the high-school circuit in 2021, setting meet records in the 100 (11.77) and 200 (24.08) at the state championships in May. Entering her sophomore year, Brown wants to do it all again. “Once she started winning nationals at 9 and 10, that name Aniyah Brown rang a bell in everybody’s ears,” Ritter coach Tiffany Spain says. “Now, in high school, she’s still ringing bells.”

Kevin Coleman

St. Mary’s High School

Senior, Football

Alabama wants him. Florida State, Oregon, Southern California, and scores of other high-major college football programs are begging for his commitment, too. A 5-foot-11 receiver, Coleman will have his pick of top schools when he makes his highly anticipated college decision at the prestigious All-American Bowl in January. In the meantime, he’s poised to build off a junior season that saw him haul in 12 touchdown receptions despite the abbreviated schedule. National scouting service 247 Sports considers the St. Mary’s star the No. 2 receiver and No. 16 overall high school senior in the country entering the fall.

Nora Lee Brown

Kirkwood High School

Sophomore, Swimming

At a quad meet in mid-January, Brown looked at the time board in disbelief. She had just touched the wall with a sub-five-minute time in the 500-yard freestyle, a first for a freshman. “I very much did a double take,” Brown says. “It was like, ‘Wait a second. Did I really just do that? Cool!’” Not only did Brown go under five minutes in the 500, but she also set school records in the event three times during the campaign. And while the 500 might be her best event, Brown’s proudest moment of her first season was winning the 200 free at the MSHSAA Class 2 championships, helping her team win its first state title.