Covid: Fears 'generation' of Welsh athletes lost due to rules
- Published
Wales will lose a generation of athletes if sporting restrictions continue, sports clubs have claimed.
Strict rules mean some games and competitions cannot go ahead.
Chief executive of Welsh Athletics James Williams said that after the last set of lockdowns junior participation had fallen significantly lower than pre-pandemic levels.
The Welsh government said it was reviewing the situation every week.
Mr Williams said: "There's a very real concern that we will lose a generation of athletes.
"We saw when we came out of the last set of lockdowns junior participation was down significantly on where we were pre-pandemic and we've worked hard to try and get that up.
"Under-13s and under-15s boys in particular are significantly down on where we'd hope they would be."
Under-18s playing sport are exempt from the current restrictions of 50 participants outside and 30 inside.
However host venues have their own sets of rules which has resulted in clubs having to cancel training, competitions and matches.
James Williams said it was worrying that junior participation had not bounced back to pre-pandemic levels
The Welsh Athletics Indoor Open is the biggest indoor event in Wales for young, aspiring athletes normally attracting 400 competitors.
But it has now been cancelled.
Mr Williams said: "We had to make a decision very quickly on the viability of that event and sadly competition providers and the facility itself are still reviewing their own risk assessments so we had no option but to cancel."
Senior Athletic Indoor Championships are scheduled to take place at the end of January with hundreds lined up to compete.
Some of those athletes are expected to go on to the World Championships in the spring and to the Commonwealth Games qualifications, but current restrictions on the number of adults allowed to participate means the events might not go ahead.
However, the same type of competition in England can go ahead.
Welsh national long jumper Rebecca Chapman, 29, competed in the long jump in the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
She said she had hoped to qualify again but had to travel to England to keep up her competing momentum.
At a local level, Patrick Godfrey from Whitchurch AFC said training is irregular due to each host venue's varying rules on numbers allowed
"It's really difficult watching them continue as normal, not have restrictions on access and quantity of people that can be in the building," she said.
"I went to a competition in Sheffield… last week, and they just functioned as normal.
"They had loads of spectators, you had an atmosphere, no cap on the number of competitors who were able to compete, then over here we're only allowed a certain amount in the building to train.
"It's just really frustrating because I feel they have a lot more access, a lot more opportunity and we're having to travel out to find these opportunities that are obviously few and far between."
Ms Chapman said having to travel was putting a "strain" on competitors.
"We hadn't planned for those competitions, so now the structure is out the window because we're just trying to grasp any opportunity we can," she said.
Please keep active, government says
In grassroots football there has been confusion as more events are cancelled due to the pandemic.
Club secretary of AFC Whitchurch in Cardiff Patrick Godfrey said the club relied on local schools in order to train, but with different schools having different rules, it meant some training sessions could go ahead whilst others could not.
On Friday, First Minister Mark Drakeford confirmed level two restrictions would remain in place in Wales, with no strengthening or easing of rules.
Regarding the disruption to sports, the Welsh government said it "understands the importance of exercise for people's health and wellbeing, and encourage people to keep active during this difficult time".
There are concerns cancellations and restrictions will create a lost generation of athletes in Wales