Covid-19 pandemic and school sporting activities in Ghana: The perceived impacts on students well-being

Abstract

The Coronavirus pandemic has extremely affected various activities worldwide including school sports. Despite this, little has been done on the consequences of the cancellation of school sporting activities due to the pandemic on the well-being of students. The present study ascertained how cancellation of school sports due to the Covid-19 pandemic influenced the general well-being of students and suggested appropriate interventions to bring back school sports. The purposive sampling technique was used to collect data from Nineteen (19) Senior High School Student` athletes through semi-structured interviews. The data collection tool was created on seven themes: sports programmes, sedentary activities, impacts of the pandemic on sports, sports opportunities, impacts of sports on students` well-being, consequences, and measures to bring back school sports. Content analysis procedures were the main analytical technique. The findings revealed that students are faced with physical, psychological, emotional, economic, mental, and social health challenges. Consequently, students have gained weight, lost scholarship opportunities and friends, and go through fear and anxiety. Therefore, appropriate measures and directives such as; reduction in the number of spectators at stadiums, fumigation of stadiums, vaccination of students, and testing and quarantine are recommended to be followed to help bring back the school sports.