ABSTRACT
In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the disease caused by the SARS-CoV2 virus, known as COVID-19, to be a pandemic. This study therefore aims to determine the influence of corona virus disease (COVID-19) on sport participation among undergraduate student athletes in the University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State. In order to carry out this study, six research questions were raised. The descriptive survey research design was used for the study. The population of the study comprised 384 undergraduates student athletes in the University of Benin. The data was collected using simple random technique and a sample size of 192 undergraduate student athletes in the University of Benin, Benin City, were used for the study.
The research instrument used for the study was a self-structured questionnaire. The validity of the instrument was subjected to scrutiny and the test-retest reliability technique was used to ascertain its reliability. The correlation coefficient computed was 0.72 indicating that the instrument was reliable. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentages and means. Results revealed that participation and performance of undergraduate student athletes of the University of Benin were negatively affected by Covid 19
In conclusion, student athletes are encouraged to comply with the laid down COVID-19 protocols to avoid contracting the virus. Recommendations were made that student athletes and coaches must be educated on the developed protocols and compliance to these protocols is for their own safety, health, and wellbeing. Measures like proper face mask use (covering nose and mouth), social and physical distancing, respiratory hygiene and hand sanitizing must be mandatory. Also, COVID-19-specific protocols should be adopted into the rules and functional framework to ensure compliance.
