Gavin McLean

Jour. 300
Research for Infographic
10/22/2020

“How has Covid-19 affected the youth sports recreation department of Osawatomie, KS?”

I went out to the Osawatomie Recreation Building and interviewed the two directors in charge,
Hayden Mesmer and Kelly Farr. They provided me with plenty of insight on how youth sports
recreation has been affected by Covid-19 in Osawatomie.

• Are the kids getting the same amount of practices and games this year or have you
had to make changes to the schedules?

Practices have stayed the exact same number in years past, but games are different this
year. Typically, Osawatomie’s rec teams play neighboring towns rec teams but there are
three towns that are not playing any youth sports, Louisburg, Paola and La Cygne. This
resulted in three fewer games on the schedule.

• From your perspective what has been the majority thoughts of the community on
whether or not rec sports should be played this year?

Kelly Farr stated: “From what I have gathered is that many parents are eager to get their
kids out of the house” and “No one has told me that they won’t let their child play
because of Covid-19”

• Will a lower number of participants this year hurt the recs funding in coming
years?

I found out that the Osawatomie Rec Department is tax based and won’t see any
decreases for next year, they were optimistic about receiving more grants.

• Are there new safety rules and procedures that you have implemented this year due
to Covid-19?

For indoor sports they moved to a bigger gym with more seating for parents to help with
social distancing. Also, they are limiting those in attendance of the games, two people per
household/ child. Mask are to be worn at all times by spectators, officials and players.
For the players they supply masks and hand sanitizer every practice and game.

• What effect will this year have on the coming years when it comes to participation in
rec sports?
It is accepted that they will lose participation in baseball and softball due to there not
being a 2020 season. Kelly Farr stated: “my child was already on the fence about playing
baseball this year and now that he didn’t have to play this year, I doubt he would want to
 play next year”. She expects that more kids will have the same outlook on baseball and
softball. As for the other sports they are not worried about losing people.

Youth Participation
Volleyball Baseball Football Soccer Basketball

120
100
80 96
81
60 74
40 49 50
44 39
20
18 10 0
0
2019 2020

Pictures by Gavin McLean