Kieran Shannon: Government is all out of timeouts on indoor sport

There is no other place in the world that currently bans U12s playing basketball matches — only Ireland

Tue, 02 Nov, 2021 - 07:45

If we’re to make sense of a recent directive from the government — albeit it’s hard to find much sense in it — then about the most dangerous thing anyone under 18 can do in Ireland in these times is play a game of basketball or volleyball.

Last Thursday night, on the same day that Sport Ireland launched its slick Let’s Get Back to Sport video campaign replete with hoops analogies, the basketball community was left reeling with the news that the same agency had effectively declared that underage players would have to remain on the sidelines unless they produced a vaccine passport.

And so all over the country every U12 basketball game scheduled for last weekend — the first time most of the prospective participants would have ever got to wear their club jersey, and the first time any of them would have played a match in 20 months — was cancelled; afterall, if you’re 11, how can you produce a vaccine passport when you can’t even get vaccinated?

All schools basketball competitions — which feature over 750 schools and were meant to start this week after that 20-month lay-off — have been postponed and in danger of not even occurring because under other current government regulations schools cannot ask students what is their vaccination status.

It means for all the polish and spin that went with that Sport Ireland promo video, its message rings hollow if you’re involved with a team indoor sport. “And just like that they called timeout,” its voiceover begins, referring to the events of March 2020. “For the first time we passed a finish line we had never trained for. But now it’s time. Time to remember what it feels like to leave it all out there. To give every ounce, every breath, and put a score back on the board... Let’s get back.”

Only you can’t put a score back on the board if you’re U12, or for your school if you’re U18. Somewhere someone has decided to call timeout on you again.

There is understandable outrage and confusion within the indoor sport community, especially basketball. Anomalies and inconsistences abound.

The most glaring one is that at a time when teenagers can enter restaurants and bars and thronged discos without producing a vaccine certificate they have to produce one to play a sports match this side of February. Twelve year-olds are supposedly safe being unmasked in a classroom with 30 others for over five hours a day but not safe being in constant motion in a 100-metre long hall. They can attend a national league match but not an underage one.

Adult international and national league players and coaches do not have to produce vaccine passports because of their elite status whereas 13-year-old kids do. An 18-year-old unvaccinated player can participate in a national league game but not an U18 club or schools game.

A vaccinated teenager can’t play for their school but an unvaccinated player can still train in pods of six with vaccinated team-mates.

The same week that Tony Holohan was talking about how “schools are vital to the health and wellbeing of our children” and the importance of “balancing the priorities of safeguarding public health in the community with the social and psychological development needs of our youngest generation”, some underling of his issues a dictum curtailing the most popular school sport among teenage girls, a demographic particularly prone to dropout.

The same month Micheál Martin declared, “We are not contemplating going backwards, the only issue facing us now is going forward”, some part of his government has imposed these extended restrictions to indoor sport until at least February.

By this stage basketball has had to deal with its share of odd restrictions during Covid. Even when it went outdoors last winter it was told after seeking clarification from Sport Ireland that passing the ball was prohibited as such an act qualified as sharing equipment. When it was finally let indoors again on September 20, it was informed that while teams could play friendly matches against other clubs, they could not play a scrimmage amongst themselves in training; 3v3 was the best they could do as that way they were complying with the protocol of training in pods of six. Still, they sucked it up. On October 22 they’d be back playing and training as normal – only to learn just days after that date had passed that would not be the case. There’s only so much the sport and its community can bear.

UCD Marian, one of the country’s leading and oldest clubs, noted on its Twitter account that the Government’s new restrictions “puts a huge pressure on kids (many of whom aren’t in control of whether they get the vaccine or not)”.

Tralee Imperials, a feeder club to Superleague powerhouse Tralee Warriors, have argued that the current regulation contravenes Article 2 of the UN convention on the rights of the child which “ensures that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination on the basis of the status, expressed opinions or beliefs of the child’s parents.”

Adrian Fulton, coach to not only Superleague champions Belfast Star but also frequent National Schools Cup champions St Malachy’s, has pointed out that Sport Ireland’s directive is not only contentious but even partitionist. “The current government policy in the north is to offer a single jab to U18 children; they’re unlikely to get a second until late spring. So under the Sport Ireland regulations, no child in the north will be able to play in the schools Cup. Sport Ireland must reverse this decision given that U18 boys and girls can basically do anything they want except play a basketball match.”

Interestingly, in a letter to basketball shareholders yesterday, interim CEO Paddy Boyd noted that some of the new restrictions were contrary to Sport Ireland’s own wishes. “We understand from Sport Ireland that their Return to Sport expert group recommended that restrictions should not apply to players under the age of 18. This recommendation is under consideration at government level and a response is hoped for early next week. We are continuing to lobby at every possible level and Sport Ireland shares our frustration that their recommendation has not yet received a response. “

Basketball is not the only sport critically affected and looking at a second full season being effectively wiped out, causing it to haemorrhage a large percentage of its playing population. Volleyball has pushed out the start of all its competitions, including its premier national league, by a further two weeks, to November 27, and plan to extend their season well beyond February when the current government restrictions are meant to lift.

“It’s a decision governed by our three core values: Inclusion, respect, and integrity,” says the sport’s general manager, Gary Stewart. “We support the government’s vaccination programme and is proud that Ireland has amongst the highest vaccination rates in the world. We also respect that vaccination is a personal choice and as such, we are postponing the national league by two weeks to give participants that are currently unvaccinated, the best possible chance to play at the start of the season. It also allows those who do not wish to gain immunisation an opportunity to participate in a meaningful way when restrictions ease in February.

“We are hopeful that government may reverse its decision to restrict participation in indoor sport by children. Over 900 teams enter our schools competition programme each year and 18 clubs are taking part in our junior girls’ national league. The long-term effects on a child’s development by not taking part in sport during the winter months, or by not sharing physical activity with their friends, is significant.”

As it happens, there was some underage basketball played last weekend. The Cork county board pressed on with hosting their national U18 Michael Heffernan invitational tournament with up to 17 clubs participating, with everyone playing, attending, coaching and officiating having to produce a vaccine passport. Whether that should become the norm for underage club basketball throughout the country is debatable and contentious, but in recognition of the challenge Covid remains for the country, leading Irish basketball figures are open to adult players – including and especially – at the elite level – having to produce vaccine certs, as they do in the professional leagues, most notably the NBA.

But what there should be total uniformity over is that children who can’t access a vaccine should still be allowed to play their sport. Elsewhere in the world, like in Spain, there are U12 and U14 matches where the kids are wearing masks. But there is no other place in the world that currently bans U12s playing basketball matches — only Ireland.

The hope and expectation is that this week the Government will recognise the anomalies in their new regulations, allowing us all to forgive it and the bureaucrats who came up with them.

What would be unforgiveable is if they were to double down.

As Stewart puts it: “All stakeholders need to come together and find a way for our children to play sport. It’s too important.”