Sport across the UK has been ravaged by Covid-19, with fixtures and events cancelled, often for the foreseeable future. One organisation that has felt the effects of the pandemic is Squash Wales.
Philip Brailey, Chair of Squash Wales, released a statement in March which announced that all fixtures would be postponed until at least the end of April. In the statement he said: “We appreciate the impact this has on our players and others in the sport.”
Physiologist Researcher Jack Bickley, who was set to work with Squash Wales at the upcoming Academy squad matches in Bangor, has felt the full impact of the postponements.
Mr Bickley said that the pandemic “has resulted in delays to my programme, which was designed to run in parallel to the season.”
He went on to discuss the options after the pandemic including “a shorter pre-season programme and risk potential injuries and reduced data collection, or complete the full programme and risk burning the players out.”
This risk is troubling for physiologists such as Mr Bickley, whose largest concern is the fitness of the players that they are testing. He also conveyed a fear that “the athletes when not under strict supervision will not maintain their condition.” This raises fitness concerns as athletes aren’t able to compete and have no events to stay in peak condition for.
This spills over into issues regarding the competitors falling behind, “any slip up in development could cause an athlete to be overtaken by another.” This is particularly bad for the young academy players who would have been competing at the matches in Bangor.
Mr Bickley asserted that “just gaining competitive match experience would have been crucial for development,” meaning a lack of game time may cause stunted development.
The full statement from Philip Brailey can be found at http://www.squash.wales/covid-19-update-13-03-2020
Jon Parkin Sports 