Sports Complexes have a responsibility towards Athletes and the Sports Community
Under the strong leadership of Karan, Sports Maidan is now the next best destination for all sporting needs
If you have been an athlete or know one then you might be aware as to how being indoors can really take a toll on one's confidence and health. For the rest of you, let me try painting a picture. Imagine a cricketer working on his form each day of his life, a bowler working to better her running and bowling speed, a footballer building stamina to stay in best form throughout 60 mins, or a tennis player training to build strength, power, and speed to beat the opponent in an upcoming match.
Now imagine not being able to pursue any of this effective immediately, and no tournaments to look forward to with no goals for whatsoever for an uncertain period of time.
At the back of COVID-19 being declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) sports complexes around the nation were shut down sending the sports fraternity onto a sports hiatus. In order to curb the spread of virus and maintain physical distancing citizens were asked to stay indoor.
While the entire nation has been coping with the new normal, for a sportsman or a athlete this forced break could mean bad form, demotivation, or even end of their career. For how long can one train indoor? And indoor training has its limitations too. Also, training without an objective or motivation to perform in an upcoming tournament, or an international series could severely hurt one’s confidence and motivation levels.
However, in the fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown the government opted to give a green signal to reopening of stadiums, complexes in India without spectators and the move has come as a big relief for the sports fraternity. Keeping in mind the athletes, this step has brought back some confidence among the athletes and will definitely help in bringing up the spirits of sportsman around the nation.
But with unprecedented situation like this, the measures undertaken by sports complexes and stadiums should also be strict. Re-opening is just the first step and now to keep it from being shut again is a great responsibility on the shoulders of the management at these complexes and stadiums.
While public sports facilities are directly being managed by government staff, private facilities have a much bigger task at hand. Managing the utmost level of sanitization at all times, following the government guidelines to the T, and regular checks in place to ensure a COVID-19 norms compliant space where people can come and practice sports is an immediate challenge that needs to be dealt with very seriously.
If you are a private sports complex owner or worker, here are few key points that you might want to keep in mind to contribute to the well-being of the sports fraternity and to stay open for as longer as we can:
Train your staff
Since what we are dealing at hand is a virus that spreads from person to person, thus the first most crucial aspect to cover in this whole situation is to keep your staff up-to-date. From following daily protocols to keeping them breast of any minor gap on a daily basis is extremely important. Your facility is as safe as your staff; hence keeping them fully trained and informed at all times should be your first step.
Also, do not undermine the value of inspection. What you can achieve by involving yourself in ensuring the upkeep might surprise you.
Impart knowledge among your customers
It may come as a surprise but the knowledge of hygiene when your outside during COVID-19 varies from person to person. So it might be a good idea to share regular knowledge about facts related to COVID-19 such as good practices, best practices when you are training etc.
Be available for your clients
It is all about the confidence in your efforts. The better the confidence of your clients in coming and training at your facility, better will be your relationship. So if somebody is not feeling too well about the hygiene of some place around the facility or has an issue that they would like to highlight – be attentive, be available, and do your best to act immediately and solve it.
Adapt to the New Normal
Relook at your services and adapt them as per the new way of acceptance by your clients. For instance, if there were 10 people practicing in nets for cricket at one time, then you might want to reduce the number of people at one time, or give different time slots of the day to these 10 people. Ways like reserving the football court for a family rather than opening it for all, or only on person allowed to practice swimming at one time. Adapting to this change might contribute to the success.
And if you come to think of it, practicing all of the above and similar practices like this also makes business sense in the time to come. Because COVID-19 aftermath is all about who can adapt faster to the changing demand by consumers. While it is our duty to be ready to serve the need of nation's athletes, communities and sports fraternity...then why not do it the right way. Because in the long run that is the only way to go.
If you have been an athlete or know one then you might be aware as to how being indoors can really take a toll on one's confidence and health. For the rest of you, let me try painting a picture. Imagine a cricketer working on his form each day of his life, a bowler working to better her running and bowling speed, a footballer building stamina to stay in best form throughout 60 mins, or a tennis player training to build strength, power, and speed to beat the opponent in an upcoming match.
Now imagine not being able to pursue any of this effective immediately, and no tournaments to look forward to with no goals for whatsoever for an uncertain period of time.
At the back of COVID-19 being declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) sports complexes around the nation were shut down sending the sports fraternity onto a sports hiatus. In order to curb the spread of virus and maintain physical distancing citizens were asked to stay indoor.
While the entire nation has been coping with the new normal, for a sportsman or a athlete this forced break could mean bad form, demotivation, or even end of their career. For how long can one train indoor? And indoor training has its limitations too. Also, training without an objective or motivation to perform in an upcoming tournament, or an international series could severely hurt one’s confidence and motivation levels.
However, in the fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown the government opted to give a green signal to reopening of stadiums, complexes in India without spectators and the move has come as a big relief for the sports fraternity. Keeping in mind the athletes, this step has brought back some confidence among the athletes and will definitely help in bringing up the spirits of sportsman around the nation.
But with unprecedented situation like this, the measures undertaken by sports complexes and stadiums should also be strict. Re-opening is just the first step and now to keep it from being shut again is a great responsibility on the shoulders of the management at these complexes and stadiums.
While public sports facilities are directly being managed by government staff, private facilities have a much bigger task at hand. Managing the utmost level of sanitization at all times, following the government guidelines to the T, and regular checks in place to ensure a COVID-19 norms compliant space where people can come and practice sports is an immediate challenge that needs to be dealt with very seriously.
While the entire nation has been coping with the new normal, for a sportsman or a athlete this forced break could mean bad form, demotivation, or even end of their career
If you are a private sports complex owner or worker, here are few key points that you might want to keep in mind to contribute to the well-being of the sports fraternity and to stay open for as longer as we can:
Train your staff
Since what we are dealing at hand is a virus that spreads from person to person, thus the first most crucial aspect to cover in this whole situation is to keep your staff up-to-date. From following daily protocols to keeping them breast of any minor gap on a daily basis is extremely important. Your facility is as safe as your staff; hence keeping them fully trained and informed at all times should be your first step.
Also, do not undermine the value of inspection. What you can achieve by involving yourself in ensuring the upkeep might surprise you.
Impart knowledge among your customers
It may come as a surprise but the knowledge of hygiene when your outside during COVID-19 varies from person to person. So it might be a good idea to share regular knowledge about facts related to COVID-19 such as good practices, best practices when you are training etc.
Be available for your clients
It is all about the confidence in your efforts. The better the confidence of your clients in coming and training at your facility, better will be your relationship. So if somebody is not feeling too well about the hygiene of some place around the facility or has an issue that they would like to highlight – be attentive, be available, and do your best to act immediately and solve it.
Adapt to the New Normal
Relook at your services and adapt them as per the new way of acceptance by your clients. For instance, if there were 10 people practicing in nets for cricket at one time, then you might want to reduce the number of people at one time, or give different time slots of the day to these 10 people. Ways like reserving the football court for a family rather than opening it for all, or only on person allowed to practice swimming at one time. Adapting to this change might contribute to the success.
And if you come to think of it, practicing all of the above and similar practices like this also makes business sense in the time to come. Because COVID-19 aftermath is all about who can adapt faster to the changing demand by consumers. While it is our duty to be ready to serve the need of nation's athletes, communities and sports fraternity...then why not do it the right way. Because in the long run that is the only way to go.
