Experts say children are paying the price even though they’re not as vulnerable to the disease.
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Perhaps the problem doesn’t exist with the children who play sports, but rather the parents who attend their games, according to a Montreal pediatrician.
“Kids, for the most part, aren’t getting sick with COVID. They’re not a significant factor in the transmission. Yet they seem to be paying one of the biggest prices for the lockdown measures,” Dr. Suzanne Vaillancourt, who works in the emergency room at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, told the Montreal Gazette.
“It just feels like the rug has been pulled out from underneath them.”
As expected, team sports and leisure activities in red zones throughout the province, including the greater Montreal area and Quebec City, were suspended on Monday, in hopes of curtailing the second wave of the coronavirus. The announcement was made by Junior Education Minister Isabelle Charest, herself a former Olympic short-track speedskater. The move takes effect Thursday and will be re-evaluated on Oct. 28.
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This means the end of competitive sports and practices for the next month, although Charest encouraged those affected to continue participating in individual sports while respecting social distancing and public health guidelines. As well, fitness centres and gyms will shutter their doors again but will receive financial compensation, she said.
“For three weeks we’ll focus on individual training,” Charest said. “We want to limit those contacts to make sure kids don’t get COVID, go back to school and contaminate other kids.”
The announcement was met with disappointment and disapproval by many amateur sports organizations.
“I’m not surprised, but I’m disappointed,” said Mathieu Chamberland, the director-general for Soccer Québec. “This decision today is hard for the thousands of players in the province.”
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Not only does the government’s announcement affect the completion of the outdoor season, Chamberland fears it could impact the start of the indoor winter session.
“What will the numbers look like Oct. 28?” he said. “Nobody knows at the moment. It puts doubt in everybody’s mind.”
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League commissioner Gilles Courteau also expressed disappointment. The QMJHL season only began Friday but two of its teams — Blainville-Boisbriand and Quebec — are based in red zones and won’t be able to play home games.
On Monday afternoon, the Journal de Québec reported a player with Blainville-Boisbriand tested positive. The QMJHL subsequently announced the Armada and Sherbrooke Phoenix were suspending activities. A professional boxing card Saturday night in Shawinigan remains scheduled.
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Vaillancourt is a mother of four, all of whom participate in athletics. She also was an advocate last spring for opening camps and sports programs. She fears the suspension of sports — even on a temporary basis — could result in more serious future health and social issues, such as depression, drug and internet addiction, and possibly a higher dropout rate from schools.
“The importance of sports for kids far outweighs the risk they’re going to get in terms of contracting COVID while playing a sport. The benefits are huge,” Vaillancourt argued. “The things you learn from sports are motivation, working as a team. Now they’ll go to school and basically have nothing else to do.”
One in five high school kids play sports, she said, and for many it’s the only factor motivating them to pursue their education.
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“What’s frustrating today … they’re not the vulnerable ones,” Vaillancourt said. “We’re taking something away from a generation that already has paid a big price and isn’t a huge part of the problem.”
The Quebec Pediatricians Association sent a letter Monday to Premier François Legault and Education Minister Jean-François Roberge, stating belonging to a team often represents their only “source of motivation and relaxation.” In a gym, the letter continued, “the anxiety of failure at school no longer exists,” and won’t affect the transmission of COVID-19.
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