Schools have tools to evaluate threat to college sports
The role of University Institutional Review Boards is to approve university research projects involving human subjects. The Irb-approval process ensures that all the necessary steps are taken to protect the rights and safety of people who participate in a research project. No study involving human subjects can begin and proceed without prior IRB approval. IRBS apply ethical principles that ensure the well-being of all human participants.
Why have IRBS not been engaged to assess the risks and benefits of playing college football, basketball and other college sports this season? The answer might be that applying a standard set of IRB principles might have resulted in a decision that colleges feared or were unwilling to accept.
Three principles embody IRB approval processes. These principles inform the conditions under which college sports can play this year, and what colleges must do to satisfy such conditions.
First, minimize the risk of COVID-19 to players and coaches. Lessons learned from professional sports teams suggest that team bubbles and game pods work. Frequent testing to detect rogue asymptomatic infections is critical, so infections do not spread. The same approach applies for college teams. Frequent testing, team bubbles, and playing games in neutral site pod locations (when feasible) minimize the risk of infections.
Players in the 18- to 24-year-old range are at low risk of poor outcomes. Coaches over 55 years of age, on the other hand, are at greater risk. Over one-third of the men's and women's basketball coaches among the five Power Conference schools are in this riskier age group. Under the appropriate circumstances, with the necessary precautions, infection rates can be kept at or close to zero. Advantage, play.
Second, benefits must outweigh the risks. Playing collegiate sports imparts significant social and developmental benefits to the student players. Most are in school on athletic scholarships. Some college basketball players will play professionally, either in the United States or overseas. Many will have careers related to sports, such as coaching in college or high school. Playing college sports develops character, leadership, and team work skills. In addition, college sports enhance school spirit and unity.
We know that college athletic departments would benefit financially with a season of football and basketball games, given the revenue streams earned from television rights, bowl games and March Madness. Focusing solely on health risk obfuscates the entire life skill package of benefits enjoyed by the players. Each player must weigh this benefit/risk trade-off, which is a personal choice for each player to make. Advantage, play.
Third, informed, freely made decisions are necessary. Players should have the option to play or not play based on their personal assessment. Any agreements that students have to play should be documented and revocable by the student at any time, with no penalty or outside pressure. As the COVID-19 situation evolves, and new information becomes available, players should be given the freedom to make informed decisions on continuing to play or to opt out. No player should be required to participate or continue to participate to keep their scholarship and maintain their academic status. Colleges have uniformly offered this option, all for the benefit of the players.
Advantage, play.
IRBS would never approve any research project that places human subjects at unnecessary risks. College athletic departments have expressed similar positions for their student athletes and coaches. The well-being of players and coaches is paramount. The decision to begin the season for all college sports makes sense. How it will end remains unclear.
Some teams might need to stop their seasons prematurely. Postponed games are likely, as has already occurred with football, including this weekend's Wisconsin-nebraska matchup. Not starting a season because of the possibility of not finishing it penalizes everyone unfairly.
Once a season begins, much will depend on how well the players and coaches embrace the new environment. Everyone deserves the chance and choice to participate and play. An IRB review would say no less. Advantage, play.
Sheldon H. Jacobson, PH.D., is a professor of computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-champaign. He is the founder of Bracketodds, a STEM learning laboratory at the University of Illinois focused on the analytics of March Madness.