The impact of COVID-19 on interscholastic athletics

With school closures, safety protocols, canceled seasons, quarantine requirements, and more, high school athletic directors in the United States were forced to balance operating an athletic department while simultaneously ensuring the health and safety of student-athletes, coaches, community members, and event workers during the pandemic. To better understand these experiences, the study upon which this chapter is based evaluated the impact of COVID-19 on interscholastic athletics by uncovering how athletic directors utilized strategic management processes to embrace the challenges faced, strategies implemented, changes in day-to-day operations, and perceived lasting impacts in leading an athletic department during this uncertain time. Through in-depth interviews with these key stakeholders, this chapter reveals eight emergent themes (i.e., financial impact, mental health, community interaction, event management, change and uncertainty, competitive advantage, ramifications, and perseverance) that provide insight into the short-term and long-term impacts that the pandemic has had, and will continue to have, on high school sports.