This may seem like a clumsy dribble or two, with more frequent “breathless” breaks and awkward social interactions. Trainers across Ottawa say they also notice physical development challenges in some of their young athletes. But they do not worry too much and hope that the children will arrive soon. “I’ve been doing this for years and the change I noticed was remarkable,” said Bill Michalopoulos, a 10- and 11-year-old football coach and president of Ottawa South United Soccer. In the last four months of the transition to normalcy, Michalopoulos said that he has seen a lot of anxiety and stress among some athletes. “It’s right in your face … It really differed from person to person,” he said. For example, he said when asking the team to concentrate, some players would stay away from others, although physical distance requirements no longer apply. For some kids on the football field, teamwork and closing the proximity gap has been a challenge. (The Associated Press) Technical skills are also behind, Michalopoulos said. Most players make juggling balls in the air 10 times without dropping them – before the pandemic, the same age group could make about 50. Collectively, the team finds it difficult to connect, he added. “It’s about six months back… It’s a huge amount of time because they grow so fast during this age.”
Distinguish between competitive, novice athletes
Failures are “something that anyone who trains at the grassroots level … has noticed,” said Paul ApSimon, Olympic fencing coach and co-owner of Tryumph Gymnastics Academy. While competing swordsmen were able to make significant progress during the pandemic due to more training time, the average growing swordsman struggled with basic skills. For example, there is a “big gap” in hand-eye coordination, balance and agility of young swordsmen, he explained. His program had to modify the programming to allow students to bridge the gap. They have spent twice as much time in each class working on basic elements such as lunges and standing on one leg. Paul ApSimon, a fencing coach in Ottawa, says he has noticed that some young leisure athletes are a little slower to learn the basic skills for the sport that comes from a pandemic break. (Submitted by Paul ApSimon) ApSimon, who is also a high school physical education teacher, said he had noticed that students’ basic levels of fitness and motivation had been “drastically reduced”. Before the pandemic, for example, about 90 percent of its students could run 2.5 miles in about 18 minutes. “Today, we are struggling to persuade about 60 percent of students to do about half the distance in … acceptable time,” he said.
Not knowing rules
Mike Kenny, founder of Right Way Basketball, said he also noticed a gap between competing and less experienced players who had less exposure to organized sports during the pandemic. Physical literacy, problem solving and social skills are lagging behind, he noted. “The other night with one of our Right Way skills sessions, we put them in groups. What would have taken maybe 30 seconds before takes a lot longer now,” he said. “A lot of kids just don’t have the ability to look someone else in the eye and put themselves out there.” CLOCKS The basketball coach describes the developmental impact:
Kids struggling with exercise skills after two years of pandemic, says teacher
Mike Kenny, a physical education teacher, says he has noticed that more children are struggling with basic “natural literacy” skills than before the pandemic, which paused in fitness classes and most organized sports. As a high school fitness teacher, Kenny said he has also noticed some failures in schools. “Many students, even in 9th and 10th grade, do not even know the rules for some of our most common sports,” he said, referring to games such as softball.
Shortness of breath and lack of motivation
Julia Gutsik, founder of Luv2Groove Dance Education, attends schools throughout Ontario and teaches dance in kindergarten in the 12th grade. He said that while most children are excited to move again, he noticed a lack of cardiovascular endurance at all levels. A common theme is in the first five minutes, students will say “I’m tired.” “They need a break,” he said. “Another thing I feel is a little different is maybe following the instructions. So when we teach a dance routine, it takes a little longer to catch it.” Julvia Gutsik, founder of Luv2Groove, shows up here to teach a group of students how to dance at school. (Submitted by Julia Gutsik) Peggy Pratt, president of South Ottawa Little League baseball, works primarily with children between the ages of four and nine. He said one challenge he noticed is that it is more difficult to get players to focus on the pitch. “They really just want to talk to their friends sitting on the bench next to them. And that’s normal, but it’s too much, especially at this point,” he said, attributing it to a lack of socializing opportunities during the pandemic. “In terms of road skills, there are some kids who would normally have a certain range of skills, but are lagging behind,” he said, adding that they catch up “very quickly”.
“Children are resilient”
Nicolas Grimard, co-owner of Laws of Motion, said his cycling and parkour fitness club has not seen much developmental impact on children. Other trainers, especially those who have taken virtual lessons during the pandemic, also told the CBC that their athletes returned immediately. “I was impressed by how resilient the children are. They seemed to have adapted and recovered quite well from the pandemic,” Grimard said, noting that many children have already “fully recovered” from minor setbacks due to lack of time in the gym. Fencing coach ApSimon agrees. “Children are resilient, as we see [them] “Come back, but we definitely need to have this conscious approach to fill the gap,” he said. Basketball coach Kenny said it is also up to parents and guardians to help their children together.
