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The effect of COVID-19 on sports: the COVID-19 pandemic was a true strike in the sports world.
The Howard University Men’s Soccer Team huddles up after Sunbelt Conference Semifinal loss. (Courtesy: @humsoccer/Instagram)

The effect of COVID-19 on sports: the COVID-19 pandemic was a true strike in the sports world.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BVM) — COVID-19, also known as coronavirus, has widely affected people across the world. The world was ravaged by this disease starting in March 2020, causing a deadly pandemic in all aspects of life. In addition to the physical toll that the coronavirus took on people, it also had an undeniable damage to people’s mental state. The removal from everyday life, the exclusion from other people and the uncertainty of this new disease severely impacted individuals internationally. Sports were no exception to this.

Athletes were forced to halt their sporting events during the COVID outbreaks. After all, most sports involve contact with a ball or another individual. Fan attendance shrunk dramatically, and sports were played irregularly to adjust to COVID-19 protocols. The mindset of some of these athletes threw them off of their game. Practices were often cancelled or postponed, meaning team chemistry would fluctuate, and athletes would not be able to stay up to their physical capacity. They were removed from everyday life just like everybody else.

“I wasn’t progressing how I wanted at first,” Kabir Salami, a member of the Howard’s Men Soccer team, said. “Not gonna lie, it was difficult. Part of it was not knowing what people have. Things were limited and I wasn’t able to do all the things I normally would. That was until I realized what I had to do to improve physically.”

Salami talks about the effects of COVID-19 on his soccer team throughout this past year. Like many athletes, the removal of sports from his life often left a feeling of emptiness.

“It felt weird not being able to play soccer regularly,” Salami said. “I was able to stay in shape, but I wasn’t able to play as much as usual.”

The Howard soccer players would often have to orchestrate their own practices in order to stay physically active. Despite this new atmosphere, Salami adjusted to it, and says that it actually made him better. When asked if this lack of progression affected his game, Salami laughed the question off.

“Nah, I got better. What else was I supposed to do?”

These odd circumstances motivated Salami and other players to develop new ways of training to ensure that their game did not slow down.

That was during the 2020-21 school year and soccer season. Now, it is July of 2021. Vaccinations are spreading and societies are starting to return to normal. People across the world are adjusting back to some semblance of normalcy. Hopefully, normality will be able to return to the world, especially within sports. Because after all, these games are things that bring people together in a constant state of chaos.