What does the future of sports look like in a post-pandemic world?



Bud Black, Manager of the Colorado Rockies and Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers Head Coach, reflect on the tough year in sports, the lessons learned amidst the virus and how sports may be forever changed. We also spoke with Dawn Comstock, Ph.D, Adjunct Professor at the Colorado School of Public Health in the Department of Epidemiology at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus, and an expert on preventing sports injury and public health issues related to sports.



This last year was challenging, as Bud Black managed the Rockies through 60 fan-less games — but he was proud of his players, coaches and support staff and the way they handled the stress. A day at the ballpark was not the same. His biggest learning? That he, his coaches and players need to lead by example on a daily basis because if America sees baseball do the right thing, they will too.



For the NFL and football, Kyle Shanahan saw a shift in how coaches and athletes approached the game. Instead of focusing inward on getting stuff done, it’s now about reaching out to your teammate to see how they are doing. It used to be about putting the pressure on, and now it’s about taking the pressure off. And still winning, of course.



Dr. Comstock looks at sports through the eyes of an epidemiologist. How do you track the patterns of sports injuries — like a virus — to limit or prevent their occurrences.



So how to keep fans and players safe this year? Get vaccinated when eligible, continue masking, keeping social distancing, symptom checks, temperature checks, testing and contact tracing. Some pro sports are doing a lot of it very well, some colleges are doing some of it and high school and youth sports are struggling to do any of it. In fact, Dr. Comstock has been a vocal critic of how poorly high school and youth sports have handled the pandemic — packing stadiums and fields with maskless parents, kids and fans. Instead of being a source of community pride, high school sports are becoming a danger to our communities, risking wide-spreading that could lead to another lockdown.



The new normal across all sports? Athletes will have greater advocacy about their own health and safety, whether it’s from an infectious disease or a sports injury.



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