Alternative Physical Activity And Health Promotion Concepts Of German Sports Clubs During The First Covid-19 Lockdown

Abstract

PURPOSE: Covid-19 Containment efforts in most countries included temporary closure of all non-essential services, such as sports and exercise facilities. Also in Germany, sports clubs had to close for about two month starting mid-March 2020. The aim of the present study was to assess what alternatives German sports clubs developed to in-person health-oriented exercise courses. METHODS: We conducted an anonymous online survey among large German sports clubs between Mid-April and Mid-May 2020. Data is presented descriptively, and the comparison between large and small clubs (defined by means of median splits based on the number of members and the number of trainers/coaches) with regard to the number of alternative formats and the target groups addressed was carried out by means of an unpaired t-test or Mann-Whitney-U-Test after a corresponding assumptions test. RESULTS: 178 clubs were invited to participate, 61 data sets could be analysed. 92% of clubs have offered alternative course formats during the lockdown, most of them were digital. Reasons for not offering any alternatives were the lack of financial, personal or technical resources. The large majority (82.1%) of the clubs have also allowed non-club members free access to their digital online content, and 69.6% considered keeping the non-presence content freely accessible even after the restrictions have been lifted. Almost three quarters (72.3%) of the clubs have received no support from their regional umbrella sports organization. Significantly more alternative formats were offered by clubs with more than 4150 members (median = 3.0 vs. median = 2.2, U = 480, p = 0.008) and with more than 172 trainers (median = 3.1 vs. median = 2.1, U = 501, p = 0.002) compared to clubs with fewer members and trainers respectively. The number of target groups addressed was not associated with the size of the association in terms of the number of members (p = 0.057) or the number of trainers (p = 0.13). CONCLUSIONS: In light of the dynamic development of the Corona pandemic, sports clubs must be prepared to offer alternatives to in-person courses also on the middle term. These efforts should be supported by sports organisations and communities.