COVID-19 in Youth Soccer During Summer 2020.

Watson, Andrew M; Haraldsdottir, Kristin; Biese, Kevin; Goodavish, Leslie; Stevens, Bethany; McGuine, Timothy; Biese, Kevin M; McGuine, Timothy A

CONTEXT As sports reinitiate around the country, the incidence of COVID-19 among youth soccer athletes remains unknown. OBJECTIVE To determine the incidence of COVID-19 among youth soccer athletes and the risk mitigation practices utilized by youth soccer organizations. DESIGN Retrospective cohort. PARTICIPANTS Youth soccer club directors throughout the United States. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Surveys were completed in late August 2020 regarding phase of return to soccer (individual only, group non-contact, group contact), date of reinitiation, number of players, cases of COVID-19, and risk reduction procedures being implemented. Case and incidence rates were compared to national pediatric data and county data from the prior 10 weeks. A negative binomial regression model was developed to predict club COVID-19 cases with local incidence rate and phase of return as covariates and the log of club player-days as an offset. RESULTS 124 respondents had reinitiated soccer, representing 91,007 players with a median duration of 73 days (IQR: 53-83 days) since restarting. Of the 119 that had progressed to group activities, 218 cases of COVID-19 were reported among 85,861 players. Youth soccer players had a lower case rate and incidence rate than children in the US (254 v. 477 cases per 100,000; incidence rate ratio [IRR]=0.511, 95% CI = [0.40-0.57], p<0.001) and the general population from the counties where data was available (268 v. 864 cases per 100,000; IRR=0.202 [0.19-0.21], p<0.001). After adjusting for local COVID-19 incidence, there was no relationship between club COVID-19 incidence and phase of return (non-contact: b=0.35±0.67, p=0.61; contact: b=0.18±0.67, p=0.79). Soccer clubs reported utilizing a median of 8 (IQR: 6-10) risk reduction procedures. CONCLUSIONS The incidence of COVID-19 among youth soccer athletes is relatively low when compared to the background incidence among children in the United States in summer of 2020. No relationship was identified between club COVID-19 incidence and phase of return to soccer.