Process assessment of fencer's parents within the scope of the COVID-19 normalization steps

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study is to measure and construe the opinions of the parents of athletes who are actively participating in competitions in our country and who are licensed by the Turkish Fencing Federation for the 2019-2020 season, regarding the organizations to be planned and the issues to be paid attention, within the scope of the Covid-19 normalization steps. The study group comprises 410 parents in total who take place on the list of licensed athlete parents of the Turkish Fencing Federation in 2019-2020. An online data collection form was used as a data collection tool in this study, which was structured through the qualitative research method. The survey form, which was drawn up by the researcher by taking expert opinion, consisting of a total of nine questions, and devised to learn the opinions of the participants on the subject matter of the study, includes multiple-choice and open-ended question types. In this study conducted in collaboration with the Turkish Fencing Federation, the respondents answered the questionnaire online via the website of the respective federation and took part in the study voluntarily. Consent regarding the study was presented in the "Remarks'' section of the form to the participants for approval. In the analysis process of the data obtained, the data analysis program called MAXQDA Analytics Pro 2018 (Release 18.2.4) (Professional Data Analysis Software for Qualitative and Mixed Methods) was used. While closed-ended questions were summarized by indicating percentages, the content analysis method was used in the process of analyzing open-ended question and answer reports. The data obtained were visualized with the help of frequency tables and code maps. Finally, some of the opinions of the participants, which were coded, were directly conveyed by interpreting the findings obtained through the tables and code maps. For this study, an approval was received from the Ethics Committee for Non-Invasive Clinical Research of the School of Sport Sciences of Seljuk University. It was determined as a result of the study that the Covid-19 pandemic that poses impacts on the entire world affects the attitudes of parents of athletes to participate in organizations. In the activities planned to be organized, the sub-codes like attending without an audience, open-air competitions, provision of spaciousness and ventilation means in the selection of a competition hall, and risk approval notification are classified. In addition, arrangements for the priorities of the parents of athletes in the organizations to be held within the scope of the Covid-19 normalization steps of the respective federation were ensured by presenting the Turkish Fencing Federation with the report drawn up as a result of the study.