Photo credit: Bennett Conlin | The Breeze
The sports world has been in a slumber for months due to the pandemic. As local, state and federal governments have worked tirelessly to contain the virus, there’s been a small re-emergence of sporting events throughout the past couple weeks. The German Bundesliga, Germany’s highest tier of soccer, returned to play, NASCAR revved up its engines for the first time since March and the NCAA recently voted to allow student athletes to participate in on-campus voluntary athletic activities starting on June 1.
Although play has resumed for some leagues, one critical component is missing: stadiums filled with cheering fans. Due to social distancing guidelines, stadiums and arenas are empty as sports resume around the world, leaving an eerie silence.
“It’s dead silent out here,” Kevin Harvick told NPR as he emerged from his car after winning the NASCAR cup series race at Darlington. “We miss the fans.”
Roaring fans were replaced with a deafening silence as thousands of seats sat empty in stadiums and arenas across the world. As spectators watched the Bundesliga on TV, they were able to hear every grunt and scream from the players and coaches, sounds that are usually drowned out by the fans.
“Spectators are part of it, just like goals and coaches,” Christian Streich, head coach of Bundesliga team SC Freiburg, said in an interview after the team’s first game back on May 16, translated in an article by H.J. Mai for NPR. “We are all soccer-crazy, and therefore it’s sad that fans can’t be here.”
Perhaps the biggest sporting event postponed due to the coronavirus is the Tokyo Olympics, originally scheduled to begin this July. Although the event was rescheduled for July 2021, some experts voiced their doubts and concerns in an article published by The Guardian.
“Based on where we are now, I think it’s going to be quite some time before we’re in a position to be confident about interacting together in sporting venues, including the Olympics,” said Dr. Douglas J Wiebe, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, in The Guardian’s article. “We aren’t even out of the woods yet on what may be the first wave of Covid infections in the US; people can plan for the future, but I’m not confident the Olympics can happen [in 2021].”
The doubt surrounding the safety of an event over a year away may not bode well for college students hoping to cheer on their teams this fall. What are the chances JMU will ring in its fall season with its fans in attendance?
JMU is selling season tickets for the 2020-21 football season — a beacon of hope that fans will indeed fill Bridgeforth Stadium to cheer on the Dukes this fall. However, even if fans are present, new procedures need to be implemented in order to ensure the safety of the JMU community.
As months pass and government officials race to flatten the curve, phases are beginning to fall into action to help reestablish some sense of normalcy. As exciting as this may be for sports fans who are eagerly awaiting the return of their favorite sport, it could still be months before it’s safe for fans to sit shoulder-to-shoulder and share popcorn while cheering on their teams with the safety protocols in place.
The impact of the coronavirus is constantly changing; thus, officials have to constantly reevaluate and adapt to new developments. This makes it nearly impossible to pinpoint an exact timeline for things to return back to normal, including sports.
Story originally published by The Breeze.
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