Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Club Sports Participation - Lessons from a Robust Recovery

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020, university campuses began to close or move into virtual operations to attempt to prevent the spread of the virus around the United States, pausing all co-curricular learning opportunities at the campuses, including club sports for the estimated 2 million students who participate in these programs annually. Using systems theory as a theoretical framework, this study, funded by a NIRSA Research Grant, attempts to determine the impact that the pandemic had on club sports participation and operations, both in the 2020-2021 academic year when campuses were first learning to operate with the virus, and over the full four academic year period from 2019-2020 to 2022-2023. The study collected data from club sports departments at 107 institutions nationwide via an electronic Qualtrics survey administered from May to July, 2024. Take away lessons for club sports, collegiate recreation, and student affairs professionals for future events and crises that disrupt normal operations, including severe weather, violence and terrorist acts, and mass illness, include insuring that students feel safe while participating in the immediate aftermath of a disruption, and not being concerned about temporarily suspending operations to respond to the crisis.