High School Sports Research Articles

Elite lean athletes at sports high schools face multiple risks for mental health concerns and are in need of psychosocial support.

The combined demands on an adolescence in an elite sports high school can negatively affect mental health (eg, stress, burnout, depression, anxiety). Late adolescence is also when elite-striving athletes typically transition from junior-to-senior level programs. In addition, adolescent elite lean sports athletes have an increased risk of suffering from abnormal eating pathology. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived psychosocial needs that young, elite-striving lean sports athletes in sports high schools find essential for their sports careers and transition from junior-to-senior level sports. Eight Swedish elite-striving lean sports athletes (2 men and 6 women; median age 17.0 years, range: 16-18 years) participated in this study and sports represented were athletics (n = 1), gymnastics (n = 3), and wrestling (n = 4). Semi-structured interviews were performed, and data was analyzed by thematic analysis. Results showed integration, both in the present situation and for the future, as an overarching theme perceived as essential for a successful elite sports career over time. Three additional themes were also identified: (a) Psychosocial stress (combined performance demands, diminished social life, sports-related body weight demands, taboo talking about eating disorders, injuries), (b) Protective psychosocial factors (social support and psychological safety, communication and coordination school and sports, self-care/health behaviors), and (c) support needs junior-to-senior transition (career advice and mentorship, individualized support). As a result, elite-striving, lean sports athletes attending sports high schools need additional support to excel in their academic and athletic endeavors. Sports developmental programs continue to provide inadequate support before and during the junior-to-senior level transition. Similarly, despite the continued calls for reducing the stigma of mental health, athletes in sports schools still encounter barriers from coaches and peers, making the subject taboo, particularly surrounding eating pathologies.

Upper Quarter Injury Rates and Risk in United States High School Athletes Prior To and During the Prolonged Sport Stoppage.

Upper quarter injuries are a serious problem in high school sports. The distinctive differences in males and females and within sports concerning specific upper quarter body parts necessitates the need to evaluate these injuries across these groups. The COVID-19 pandemic has created an opportunity to evaluate the potential added burden abrupt and prolonged sport stoppage had on upper quarter injury risk. To 1) describe and compare upper quarter injury rates and risk in high school athletes in the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 academic school years; 2) examine injuries by gender, sport, injury type, and location of injury. An ecological study of the athletes from 176 high schools over six states, matching high schools between 2019-2020 (19-20) and 2020-2021 (20-21) years was performed. Injuries were reported by at least one high school athletic trainer assigned to each school into a centralized database and data collected from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2021. Injury rates were calculated per 1,000 athletes per academic year. Interrupted time series models assessed the incidence ratio between academic years. A total of 98,487 athletes from all sports participated in 19-20 and 72,521 in 20-21. Upper quarter injury rates increased in from 19-20 [41.9 (40.6, 43.1)] to 20-21 [50.7 (48.1, 51.3)]. Upper quarter injury risk [1.5 (1.1, 2.2)] was greater in 20-21 compared to 19-20. Females did not demonstrate increased injury rates between 19-20 [31.1 (29.4, 32.7)] to 20-21 [28.1 (26.4, 30.0)]. Males reported increased injury rates from 19-20 [50.3 (48.5, 52.2)] to 20-21 [67.7 (65.2, 70.2)]. Increased injury for the shoulder, elbow, and hand were reported in 20-21. Collision, field, and court upper quarter injury rates were increased in 20-21. Upper quarter injury rates and injury risk were greater during the 2020-2021 school year than in the prior year. Males demonstrated increased upper quarter injury rates, while females did not. Return to play protocols for high school athletes should be considered following abrupt sport stoppage. 2.

Connections between caring climate, self-compassion, self-pity, and reactions to an emotionally difficult sport situation

Multiple variables influence athletes’ ability to cope with the challenges of sport participation including self-compassion, self-pity, and emotional regulation. Yet, the role of coach and teammates in nurturing self-compassion (SC), reducing self-pity (SP), and helping to regulate emotions (RESE) has not been fully investigated. Therefore, this study explored the interrelationships between perceptions of the caring climate (CC), SC, SP, RESE, and reactions to an emotionally difficult sport scenario (REs) and specific ways coaches and teammates helped or hindered SC. 224 predominately White (79%), female (69%), male (30%), and non-binary (1%) undergraduate students (Mage = 18.44, SD = 0.66) involved in a high school sport the previous year, participated in an online survey. The survey included measures of CC, SC, SP, RESE, and REs along with four open-ended questions asking participants to reflect on how coaches and teammates helped or hindered development of SC. Correlations revealed CC was positively related to RESE and SC and negatively related to SP. Further, CC was positively associated with constructive REs and negatively associated with deconstructive REs. To test whether RESE, SC, and SP mediated the relationship between the CC and REs, a path analysis was conducted. A partially mediated model emerged, ꭓ2(11) = 22.10, p = .02, CFI = 0.99, TLI = 0.93, RMSEA = 0.07 (CI = 0.02–0.11), SRMR = 0.04, with CC positively predicting positive and negative RESE, positive RESE positively predicting SC, and negative RESE positively predicting SC and negatively predicting SP. Additionally, SC, SP, and RESE differentially predicted REs. Thematic analysis of the open-ended questions revealed higher order themes of emotional, esteem, informational, and conditional support with a variety of supports being used by coaches and teammates. These findings provide insight into how coaches may be able to support athletes’ SC and RESE to navigate challenges within sport.

An investigation into athlete identity and contentment with life from the perspective of sports high school students

An investigation into athlete identity and contentment with life from the perspective of sports high school students

An autoethnographic account and interpretation of sport related life skills and personal development

ABSTRACT An authoethnographic case study of the first author’s personal experience of psychosocial development and life skills transfer across his high school sport experience and over his four-decade career as a sport psychology researcher and consultant is presented. Adopting a story-analytic and teller-mode approach, the first author (Dan) conveys and interprets his own story of personal and life skill development via sport and integrates his experiences with findings from qualitative interviews he conducted with nine classmates who were also varsity athletes in 1969 at the same high school [Gould et al., under review. Former scholastic athletes views of sport-based life skills learning: A 50 year retrospective study. Manuscript Submitted for Review]. The interviews were designed to describe and systematically analyse how Dan and his former classmates’ experiences resonate with the sport-based life skills development literature. Dan’s sport-related personal and life skill development story centred on six overarching themes. These included: (1) openness to personal development because of his drive to excel and need to feel worthy; (2) “not a Tabula Rasa athlete”; (3) coaches as mentors but his mother was his greatest influence; (4) high school sport helping make him who he is; (5) high school sport serving as an incubator for self-regulation and personal growth; and (6) depositing and withdrawing from his “experience bank” to help himself and help others over the course of his life. Dan’s experiences are interpreted relative to the existing personal and life skill sport-based development research and theory.

Efficient Dance Team Practice Leads to Effective Performances

The dance team season, unlike any other high school or collegiate sport, runs year-round. Typically, tryouts are held in the late spring, teams attend camp in early to mid-summer, and the first performance takes place at the first home football game at the end of the summer. This schedule means dance team coaches are eager to schedule efficient and effective practices to prepare for each upcoming event. By implementing the strategies discussed in this column, coaches can organize their practices effectively.

Former scholastic athletes perceptions of sport-based personal development: A 50 year retrospective case study

This investigation was designed to explore sport-related personal development of former high school athletes and to understand the perceived influence of their high school sport experience on their lives over five decades. A retrospective case study design was employed with nine former male varsity athletes from the same small town high school representing a variety of sports in the 1968–1969 scholastic sport season. Findings revealed that scholastic sport experience was perceived to contribute to (1) learning the value of “me” (e.g., developed individual achievement skills like hard work, time management, self-regulation) and (2) learning the value of “we” (e.g., group/team understanding and interpersonal skill development such as understanding roles and teamwork). While some unique personal development characteristics were felt to be learned through sport, the majority were perceived to be established by the athletes’ families and reinforced and further developed via sport participation. Lay Summary: Sport-related personal development of former high school athletes was studied via interviews for the purpose of understanding the perceived influence of the high school sport experience on former participants across their lives. Respondents reported that they (1) learned the value of “me” (e.g., time management, self-regulation) and (2) learning the value of “we” (e.g., group/team understanding, teamwork) via their sport experience with 8 of the 9 respondents indicating that these transferred to their adult lives. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE Coaches must make efforts to become aware of the psychosocial attributes their athletes bring to the sport context. Former athletes clearly remember specific sport experiences and coaching actions that they believe are tied to psychosocial development over five decades after they happened emphasizing the importance of coaches being aware of their attitudes and behaviors toward their athletes.

Hoops by Matt Tavares

Reviewed by: Hoops by Matt Tavares Danica Ronquillo Tavares, Matt Hoops; written and illus. by Matt Tavares. Candlewick, 2023 [224p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781536201369 $22.99 Paper ed. ISBN 9781536231953 $12.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 5-8 In 1975, high school senior Judi Wilson is a co-cheerleading captain in Wilkins, Indiana, but she’d rather be playing for the basketball team, the Bears, than cheering for them. When an opportunity arises to be on the school’s first ever girls’ basketball team, Judi jumps into the action with seven other girls to form the Lady Bears. The girls soon realize they do not have the same support as the boys: they do not have the funds for uniforms and laundry services, they lack reliable transportation, and they can only use the gym to practice after the boys are done. From navigating shifting friendships and making the most out of difficult situations with Coach Martinez, Judi and her basketball team learn to use the power of their voices to list demands and stand up for what they believe in. A work of fiction inspired by a true story about the 1976 Warsaw High School girls’ basketball team, this graphic novel has an easy-to-follow accessibility, with captions highlighting the impact of gender inequality and tracking how much time has passed as the school system provides little to no changes for the girls’ team. Consistent paneling effectively expresses the girls’ growing influence in their community game after game. Sports fans will adore the wholesome and empowering friendships and learn how to shoot for a historic victory to make a difference in today’s high school sports. An author’s note is included. Copyright © 2023 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Art and the Psychology of Baseball (or Vice Versa)

Art and the Psychology of Baseball (or Vice Versa) Jerald (Jay) Thomas (bio) In the summers of 1982 and 1983, after my junior and senior years in high school, I found myself in the most enviable position (for a high school baseball player, anyway). I was working as a clubhouse attendant and batboy (in other words I picked up bats and washed lots of uniforms) for the visiting teams at Wrigley Field. I was a bright kid, a decent athlete, and a good student. But spending ten hours a day among twenty-five elite athletes reminded me of just how remarkable top-tier professional athletes are and how it takes more than natural athletic ability to become a top- tier athlete. I came to understand the importance of the mental game as well. High doses of tenacity, resilience, creativity, and a hint of arrogance are needed to take skills to the level of professional sports. Not quite a decade after my “major league career,” I finished graduate school and landed a job as a high school counselor for students gifted in mathematics and science. And I also coached my first of fifteen years of baseball. One of my first observations in this elite environment was that the students were, of course, not just bright but also artistic, athletic, social, creative, and very committed to their endeavors. The genesis of this article is a baseball player from my first year as a coach. We fielded a decent team, but this particular player, John, brought exceptional talent and contagious energy that led us through three seasons of fifteen- plus wins. After his senior season, John was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates as a catcher, but he wanted more than one road to success. With the savvy of a major league agent, John negotiated a contract that would allow him to attend Harvard University in the fall semester and to play minor league baseball in the spring and summer. He grew tired of bus trips and twenty- dollar per diems, so he enrolled at Yale Law School, which led him to a career as a distinguished litigator. The last time we got together was a few years ago at a Milwaukee Brewers game. I was there with my dad, a professional tennis player [End Page 49] and coach, and John and my dad spent several innings sharing the secret handshake that amateur athletes can only appreciate. The inborn talent of professional athletes can be developed but not taught. I have long wondered about how elite athletes approach other highly specialized pursuits, about what makes them so successful. I have also puzzled over whether the way athletes develop their skills parallels in other, unrelated fields. Baseball players tend to excel in other sports, and Major League Baseball players very often were stars in several high school sports before committing to baseball. But what about their talent development in altogether different domains, like music, art, literature, acting, or television announcing? Does the training and preparation necessary for success in baseball follow the same paths as that of musicians, for example? Do they derive the same satisfaction and accomplishment in composing a song as when they hit for the cycle or strike out the side? For this article, instead of writing about players from different fields, I chose to interview players who are visual artists, anticipating that I would find some common threads in their artistic vision and experiences. Bob Tewks-bury, Gene Locklear, and Blake McFarland, during and after baseball, all turned to art as a vocation or avocation. In each interview, these ballplayers and artists reflected on how their skills and routines as athletes translated into their experiences as artists. What emerged from the three very different conversations was that these players learned their artistic styles and skills in the same ways they “learned” baseball. The motivation for both art and sport runs equally deep. bob tewksbury— art as a healthy distraction Bob Tewksbury, by many measures, might be a Renaissance man in the world of professional baseball— gifted athlete, artist, writer, and distinguished Certified Mental Performance Coach—yet behind his range of talents is a deep sense of self- discipline and self- reflection...

The Black Athlete in West Virginia: High School and College Sports from 1900 through the End of Segregation by Bob Barnett, Dana Brooks and Ronald Althouse (review)

The Black Athlete in West Virginia: High School and College Sports from 1900 through the End of Segregation by Bob Barnett, Dana Brooks and Ronald Althouse (review)

Coaching and Physical Activity with Higher and Lower Skilled Student-Coaches in A Basketball Sport Education Season: A Pilot Study

ABSTRACT The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate student-coaches’ behavior and their players’ moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) as a function of coaches’ skill level in a high school sport education basketball season. One high-school class (7 girls, 14 boys) participated in this study and was taught a 14-lesson sport education season in basketball. Based on 3v3 game play performance and a 10-item basketball content knowledge questionnaire, students were labeled as either higher -or lower skilled and put into three mixed-ability teams. In every team, higher- and lower-skilled students alternated the role of team coach each lesson. Prior to each lesson, coaches received a lesson plan and completed an online training to increase their knowledge of the lesson content. All coaches were audio- and videotaped during independent team practice. Coaching was reported in terms of duration (proportion of total time) and rate per 10 minutes. Players’ MVPA was collected using systematic observation. Inter observer agreement was 86% for coaching behavior and 89% for MVPA. Higher skilled coaches spent on average 15% of the team practice time coaching, lower skilled coaches 10%. Higher skilled coaches had higher rates for refereeing, cueing, feedback, and full demonstrations. Average MVPA under higher skilled coaches was 57%, with lower-skilled coaches 65%, which was not statistically significant. We conclude that higher skilled student-coaches had more content-related interactions.

The role of sport participation on exercise self-efficacy, psychological need satisfaction, and resilience among college freshmen

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between high school sport participation among university students and whether previous sports participation was associated with current levels of exercise-self efficacy, resilience, and psychological need satisfaction physical activity behaviors. Participants: College freshmen (n = 152) in the United States responded to an electronic survey sent out by their university. Methods: Participants completed a set of questionnaires assessing resilience, psychological need satisfaction in exercise, self-efficacy, and current PA. Results: Analysis of variance, Kruskal-Wallis H tests, independent samples t-tests, and ordinary least squares regression modeling were used. Total PA and having met moderate PA guidelines were both associated with exercise SE and PNSE. HS GPA, total PA, and being a college athlete were associated with both resilience and exercise SE. Conclusions: Sport participation may serve as an effective method for students to develop exercise SE, resilience, and PNSE. The development of these skills may support lifelong PA behaviors.

Learning Model And Motor Ability Towards Football Playing Skills In Sports High School Students

This study aims to determine: (1) the difference in the influence between the tactical learning model and the direct learning model on football playing skills in Riau provincial sports SMAN students, (2) the interaction between the learning model and motor ability on football playing skills in Riau provincial sports sman students (3) Differences in the influence of direct learning models on football playing skills on high ability motorcycles, (4) Differences in the influence of direct learning models on football playing skills on low motor ability. This type of research is an experiment using a factorial design of 2 x 2. The population in this study was 76 students who were active in the sport of football. The sample in this study was 20 people using a purposive random sampling technique followed by ordinal pairing to divide the group. The instruments in this study were football skills tests, (1) passing and stopping, (2) dribbling, (3) shooting, (4) heading, barrowmotor ability tests, (1) standing broad jump, (2) softball throws, (3) wall passes, (4) medicine ball puts, (5) 60 yards running using ANAVA two Away data analysis techniques. The results showed that: (1) there was a significant difference in influence between the tactical learning model and the direct learning model on improving football playing skills, (2) There was an interaction between the learning model and motor ability on football playing skills in students of sports high schools, (3) Tactical learning models and direct learning models in the group of high ability motor students on playing skills Football has the same result. (4) The tactical learning model provides more significant results than the direct learning model of football playing skills in students with low motor ability.

Can biomechanics turn youth sports into a venue for informal STEM engagement?

A common pitfall of existing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) outreach programs is that they preferentially engage youth with a preexisting interest in STEM. Biomechanics has the unique potential to broaden access to STEM enrichment due to its direct applicability to sports and human performance. In this study we examine whether biomechanics within youth sports can be used as a venue for STEM outreach, and whether recruiting participants through youth sports programs could broaden access to the STEM pipeline. We created a four-hour sports science clinic that was performed as part of National Biomechanics Day and invited two groups of student participants: youth recruited through local high school sports programs (“Sports Cohort”, N = 80) and youth recruited through existing STEM enrichment programs (“STEM Cohort”, N = 31). We evaluated interest in STEM, Sports Science, and Sports using a pre-post survey. Somewhat expectedly, youth recruited through sports programs (Sports Cohort) had a lower baseline interest in STEM and a higher baseline interest in sports, compared to those recruited through STEM programs (STEM Cohort). The Sports Cohort exhibited a statistically significant increase in STEM interest following participation in the clinic, while youth in the STEM Cohort maintained their high baseline of STEM interest. These findings provide evidence that youth sports programs can serve as an attractive partner for biomechanists engaged in STEM outreach, and that situating STEM within sports through biomechanical analysis has potential to introduce STEM interest to a wider audience and to broaden access to the STEM fields among diverse youth.

Sports Specialization, Physical Literacy, and Physical Activity Levels in Young Adults.

Youth sport specialization may be associated with physical literacy and physical activity in young adulthood. The purposes of this study were to compare young adult (18-25y) physical literacy and physical activity by high school sport specialization status and to examine the relationship between current physical activity and physical literacy. Retrospective, cross-sectional study design. Participants were recruited from ResearchMatch, university classes, and social media posts. Participants (N = 172; aged 22.1 [2.1] y; 80.1% female) completed the following anonymous surveys on REDCap to assess: demographics and injury history, sport specialization, physical literacy (PLAYself), and physical activity (Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire). When controlling for age, there were no statistically significant differences in physical literacy (F2,166 = 2.02, P = .14) or moderate to vigorous physical activity (F2,161 = 0.24, P = .79) between sport specialization groups. There was a moderate, positive relationship between physical literacy and physical activity (r = .33, P < .001). Young adult physical literacy and physical activity were similar regardless of youth sport specialization level. Young adult physical literacy was positively associated with physical activity. Future studies should consider physical literacy as a possible correlate of physical activity among young adults.

팀 스포츠 선수들이 지각하는 실패두려움 구성요인 탐색

Objectives In this study, we will investigate the fear of failure of team sports players, analyze in-depth what structure it is composed of, and explore the components that hinder players' performance.&#x0D; Methods To this end, this study adopted an open questionnaire and an in-depth interview method. The open questionnaire was surveyed on 260 middle, high school, and university team sports players, and the data collected through this were inductive content analysis. After that, in-depth interviews were conducted one-on-one interviews with nine team sports athletes with experience of failure to grasp in-depth the fear of failure of team sports players.&#x0D; Results The results of this study were categorized by deriving 5 general areas and 9 detailed areas through inductive content analysis of 582 raw materials collected through open questionnaires, and general areas were categorized as ‘Repeated mistakes’, ‘Injuries and Rehabilitation’, ‘Out of Competition’, ‘Self-Blame’, and ‘significant other's evaluation’. The detailed factors of the “Repeated mistakes” are repeated mistakes, and the detailed factors of the “Injuries and Rehabilitation” factor were incompetence and injury rehabilitation. The detailed factors of the “out of competition” factor were position threats and enter school/career threats, the detailed factors of the “self-blame” factor were guilt and shame, and the detailed factors of “significant other's evaluation” were leaders and parents.&#x0D; Conclusions Fear of failure is a psychological factor that adversely affects the player, instills negative emotions, and lowers performance. The results of this study revealed why players feel afraid. In order to find a solution to this and provide detailed psychological support to athletes, it is believed that members in the sports environment should take the lead together. This could ultimately lead to results that help the players improve their performance.

A History of the Junior High School Sports Federation in Japan, 1947-1967: Toward a Reexamination of the Relationship Between Education and Competition in School Sports*

A History of the Junior High School Sports Federation in Japan, 1947-1967: Toward a Reexamination of the Relationship Between Education and Competition in School Sports*

The influence of gender on the relationship between the basic psychological needs and mental health in high school student-athletes

ABSTRACT High school sport presents opportunities for adolescents to build a solid foundation for positive mental health. Given recent calls to consider gender as a key variable when studying mental health, the purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of gender on the relationship between the satisfaction/frustration of the three basic psychological needs and mental health in high school student-athletes. A sample of 925 Canadian adolescents completed an online survey, reporting on sociodemographic variables and two scales: the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale and the Mental Health Continuum – Short Form. Analyses included a moderation analysis in which the satisfaction or frustration of each basic psychological need was the independent variable, gender was the moderator variable, and mental health was the dependent variable. The direct relationships between the satisfaction of each basic psychological need and participants’ positive mental health were positive and significant. Moreover, the frustration of the three basic psychological needs were significantly associated with lower levels of positive mental health. Gender was found to moderate two out of the six tested relationships (i.e., autonomy frustration and relatedness frustration), with the relationship between the dependent and independent variable being stronger for girls than boys. Results indicate the importance of creating sporting environments that satisfy student-athletes’ basic psychological needs. Gender differences suggest that removing from sport participation elements that frustrate basic psychological needs is especially meaningful for girls. Research is also needed to expand conceptualisations of gender beyond a binary construct.

The Role of the Hand Surgery Consultant in the Management of the High School and Collegiate Athlete.

For the purpose of this article, we will not use individual sports as the primary delineator; however, the two different levels of play: High School and Collegiate. We plan to share insight that we have gained through decades of practice treating High School sports and collegiate athletes. This article offers readers reliable guidance on not only treating the athlete's hand but understanding the person as a whole and the struggles at each level of play.

Influence of High School Socioeconomic Status on Athlete Injuries during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Ecological Study.

It is presently unclear how the cessation of high school sport has affected injury incidence at different socioeconomic levels. The COVID-19 pandemic may have disproportionately affected athletes of lower socioeconomic status, potentially increasing injury risk in this population. To 1) Describe athlete injury incidence prior to and during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years in high school athletes by socioeconomic status; 2) Investigate the association between socioeconomic status and injury incidence in high school athletes. Ecological Study. High schools were matched between the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years. All athletes from all sports were included. High school socioeconomic status was determined by the school district median household income. Socioeconomic strata were defined as <$30,000, $30,000-50,000, $50,001-100,000, and >$100,000. Injury incidence proportion with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was calculated for each academic year. Mixed effects negative binomial models with robust errors were performed to assess the association between the incidence proportion ratio and high school median household income. Six states and 176 high schools were included (2019-2020: 98,487 athletes; 2020-2021: 72,521 athletes). Injury incidence increased in three of four socioeconomic strata during the 2020-2021 year (<$30,000: 2019-2020: 15.6 (13.1-18.1), 2020-2021: 26.3 (23.1-29.6); $30,000-50,000: 2019-2020: 7.8 (7.1-8.6), 2020-2021: 14.9 (13.8-15.9); $50,001-100,000: 2019-2020: 15.1 (14.7-15.4), 2020-2021: 21.3 (20.9-21.8); >$100,000: 2019-2020: 18.4 (18.1-18.8), 2020-2021: 17.3 (16.8-17.7)). An association was observed between injury incidence ratio and log median high school household income in 2019-2020 [1.6 (1.1-2.5)] but not 2020-2021 [1.1 (0.8-1.6)] school years. Athletes from lower socioeconomic high schools reported increased injury incidence compared to higher socioeconomic high schools during the 2020-2021 academic school year. These results highlight the increased COVID-19 pandemic vulnerability in athletes from lower socioeconomic high schools. High school sport stakeholders should consider how abrupt sport stoppage can affect lower socioeconomic athletes. 2.