COVID-19’s Impacts on Community-Based Sport and Recreation Programs: The Voices of Socially-Vulnerable Youth and Practitioners

COVID-19 ravaged the delivery of sport and recreation programs and services to socially vulnerable youth. Based on the in-depth interviews with nine practitioners/volunteers working with socially vulnerable youth in Little Village, Chicago, Illinois, and their 12 youth (14–16 years old) program participants (N = 21), this study offers a constructivist grounded theory of COVID-19-imposed constraints on sport and recreation programs, their adverse impacts on socially vulnerable youth, adopted negotiation strategies, and consequent silver lining opportunities for programs to help socially vulnerable youth and struggling communities. COVID-19-imposed constraints and their effects on socially vulnerable youth were analyzed at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural levels. Programs’ negotiation strategies included moving to virtual and home programming, switching from indoor to outdoor activities focusing on civic responsibility, and adopting COVID-19 safety/prevention protocols. Learned lessons and unexpected opportunities amid adversity contribute to knowledge, practice, and advocacy efforts focusing on socially vulnerable youth and disadvantaged communities.