“We may be a couple of weeks or so behind in Wales in terms of announcements, but the reality for most athletes is that they are not very far behind others – and if they are it’s for the right reasons.
“In England, they made the announcement three weeks ago to allow some elite athletes to go back to training, but in reality – because of the amount of work that needs to be put in – very few have gone back so far.
“The public health messages and outcomes are the priority. They cannot be risked and so it takes a lot of time to set-up the necessary arrangements and protocols.”
The other consideration Davies believes has to be taken into account is the changed sporting landscape.
Competitions have been suspended, tournaments put on hold or moved back. The Olympic and Paralympic athletes are working to a revised timetable and even those planning for the next Commonwealth Games are feeling the knock-on effects.
The full-time professionals at Cardiff City and Swansea City may have resumed training, but football in both the Premier League and the Championship now has confirmed dates for the resumption of matches.
“We have to be realistic in all sports,” adds Davies. “There is no point rushing back into full training, if you have no competition in place. What are you then coming back for and how can you programme an effective training regime?
“In football, they have a date and they have put in place training plans to meet that date. If you don’t have a date, then there is no rush and the best strategy is to make sure the plans are put in action.
“Even for our Olympic athletes, there are almost no dates yet for their new qualifying competitions. It may well be that the best thing for many athletes at present is just to keep ticking over with their core training and not do anything significant.
“That may vary a little from sport to sport and the athletes have to be at the forefront of our thinking all the time.
“If there are issues then we need to react, but for the moment so long as we keep the athletes involved in the decision-making process, then I think we should be okay.”
Until the next Welsh Government review, elite Welsh athletes will continue to train mostly alone, mainly in public spaces.
They can now be coached on a one-to-one basis provided their coach lives locally and maintains a social distance – but until their sport has a plan in place, then other training facilities will not yet re-open in the way the training grounds of the professional football clubs have done.
To ensure those plans meet Welsh Government approval, Sport Wales in partnership with the Welsh Sports Association have streamlined various working groups into three main ones – representing outdoor sports, indoor sports and elite and professional sport. Facilities are also represented and the challenge they face should not be understated.
Feedback from these groups will be examined in partnership with Welsh Government officials before submitting any proposals on the way ahead for consideration by Ministers and Cabinet.
With new procedures needing to be put in place – these could range from Covid19 officers appointed, social distancing rules, cleansing and screening athletes for symptoms – there could be concerns in many sports about the issue of cost.
But Davies says initial costs for sports at elite level which could be accommodated at the Sport Wales National Centre will likely be absorbed by Sport Wales and the individual sports. As the focus shifts to opening up community sport then funds such as the Sports Resilience Fund should help meet the many of the extra obligations.
The final factor – for all sports to consider – is that the return to training will be gradual, phased, and will likely move faster in some sports than others.
“There is not going to be an automatic return to sport for all sports and all clubs,” says Davies.
“Initially, only a small cohort of elite athletes will benefit from the easing of restrictions to allow training back at facilities.
“It’s not going to be all athletes and all sports in one go. The lessons we learn will then be fed into the wider cohort of athletes and sports.
“It’s going to need patience. But, overall, I have been buoyed by the response of the Welsh sports fraternity. They really do understand why these restrictions have been in place and they don’t want to rush back and risk public health.”
