As a participant, you are asked to fill out a brief (up to 20min) anonymous online survey asking questions about your perspectives on how the restrictions on youth sport resulting from covid-19 have impacted you and your children.   Your participation in this study is completely voluntary and you only need to answer the questions you feel comfortable with. As the survey is anonymous there is no way for participants to withdraw their data once submitted.

The survey conducted is completely anonymous. All data will be analyzed as a group.  No identifying information is required.  When answering the questions, you are encouraged to try and avoid providing information that could potentially identify you or others (e.g., your child, coach, neighbour).  The primary focus of the results reported will be overarching themes that emerge from the data as a whole; however, anonymous illustrative quotes will also be used when reporting of the results to represent specific themes.  Only general descriptors of the population from which the sample was drawn will be presented in publications or presentations (e.g., “parent of youth hockey player”).   In the event that representative quotes contain information that could potentially identify a person this information will be replaced with a general descriptor (e.g., “parent”) or a pseudonym.

All electronic data will be stored on a password protected laptop. Only Dr. Shields will have access to the raw data. While the data collected is anonymous, by request of the Acadia ethics review board, it must be noted that any data sent electronically or stored online may be legally accessed by domestic or foreign authorities. Data will be retained until the study findings have been published in a scientific journal, after which all data will be deleted.

There are no known harms associated with participation in this study.  There are no direct benefits to you in terms of the research results; however, it is hoped that this study will shed some light on the impacts of covid-19 as it relates to families’ experiences within youth sport.  Dr. Shields plans to present the overall findings of this work at scientific or professional conferences and potentially publish the findings in a peer reviewed journal.

This project has been reviewed by and received clearance through the Research Ethics Board at Acadia University. If you have any questions or concerns resulting from your participation in this study, you may contact Chris Shields at chris.shields@acadiau.ca. You may also contact the chair of the Acadia Research Ethics Board, Dr. Stephen Maitzen through email at smaitzen@acadiau.ca.