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KUALA LUMPUR - Over the weeks, we have heard the frustration and struggles of the 77 companies that formed the Sports Industry Coalition (SIC) in correlation to the ongoing pandemic.
However, do participants of these mass participation sporting events share similar sentiments?
One of the arguments the SIC made was that businesses, big and small, have been plummeting with every Movement Control Order (MCO).
For one of our source who owns a bicycle shop, business has gone from bad to worse.
“The business is my priority, and things have gone from bad to worse especially with no events being held,” the source shared.
Triathlete Sue Teoh, who also coaches, has been affected.
“Without the races, many athletes who were previously undergoing training have temporarily put their training on hold and this has had an adverse impact on our coaching business income.”
Apart from the impact on businesses, three-time Ironman athlete Diana Hazari shared her thoughts on the issue.
For Diana, the lack of these sporting events have not only depleted her financial resources but also the motivation to continue training. At the same time, peoples fitness levels are also dropping.
“Exercising to better oneself, in particular, is made much more tedious due to a lack of foreseeable events. As such, a lack of motivation can significantly contribute to drop in training volumes which results in personal fitness being adversely affected,” shared Diana.
And Diana is not the only one feeling the effects of the lack of motivation from the absence of a competitive platform.
Sue also added that “The absence of races is demotivating, many lose their drive to continue training because there is no goal to work towards.
“Not everyone wants to train indefinitely without a race in sight. It’s also difficult to keep the athletes motivated for such a long period without races,” Sue added in relation to her clients as well.
Yet, this is not the only downside to sporting events like the Ironman being halted. As events like these attract contestants from all places and regions, the communal aspect of the sport has also been stripped away.
“These events unite people under a common cause and it's great social fun. As these events are not allowed yet, it creates a vacuum in our schedules; a hole that is undoubtedly hard to fix,” expressed Diana.
Diana’s community is not the only one with such sentiments as Sue has also witnessed many who have “simply changed their focus to new hobbies and put sports on the backburner.”
However, what proves to be most frustrating is not just the inability to compete, but watching other large gatherings resume operations.
“I understand the risk of transmission (through mass sporting events) but I don't see equal treatment (compared to large gatherings like the Bazaar Ramadhan) being applied here,” said Diana.
Sue added, “It’s unfortunate that sporting events are being ‘ignored’ as the industry isn’t prioritised as important to the economy or people.”
However, with the rising cases, maybe it would be a better idea to keep mass sporting events at bay.
While the bike shop owner and Sue agree, Diana stands firm in her opinion to reopen mass sporting events, more specifically triathlons.
“Although businesses are in a bad situation, we also don’t want to make it worse. Working out is good and healthy, but maybe no mass gatherings,” shared our source.
“If cases are rising again, then maybe it is better to hold back on mass participation sports. But I think if we can modify the way races are conducted to minimise risk, then we could try that instead of the traditional mass starts,” said Sue.
And alternative starts and strict SOPs are exactly what Diana brought up when talking about allowing mass participation sports to resume.
“Arguably, both mass gatherings like the Bazaar Ramadhan and sporting events have the same chances of transmission. But sporting events might even have a reduced rate of transmission if SOPs is followed strictly, especially because the SOPs from World Triathlon Organisation are very strict,” Diana mentioned. - The Vibes. April 19, 2021
