Crowdless stadiums a test for sportspeople
Olympic champion Jack Lovelock described the challenges
Among the features that could affect the performance of players and teams in the return to Super Rugby in New Zealand next month will be how playing in empty stadiums will affect players.
Any number of comments have been made about how strange it will seem for those involved in games.
In the professional era near-empty stadiums have been minimal and, yes, while some teams going through lean patches have had reduced crowds, there has still been something of a crowd presence that has led to reactions to good play or exciting phases of the game.
Earlier, in more traditional rugby times, players were exposed to performing in front of much smaller assemblies during club games. Most players in professional rugby have never had that experience. Even secondary school games are assured of noisy support groups.
The concept of performing in front of empty stands is not new, however.One of the legends of New Zealand sport, and one of the first sports psychologists, Jack Lovelock wrote about the effect of crowds, both large and small.
Lovelock, the winner of one of the greatest 1500m finals in Olympic history, at Berlin in 1936, said it took special qualities to perform under the different circumstances.
Having had to race in minor meetings while attempting to build up the form that saw him break the world mile record in 1933 and the world 1500m in the Olympic final, Lovelock knew how important it was to achieve an equilibrium that allowed him to achieve what he was looking for in both empty and full stadiums.
"There is no denying that an athlete is greatly influenced and inspired by the atmosphere around him; crowded stands packed right down to the edge of the track with expectant onlookers, in spite of the tension and nervousness which they at once produce, cannot help but bring out the best in him.
"The difference that the spectator's attitude makes in a man's performance can only be appreciated by those who have faced both empty and overflowing stands in all parts of the world; the chilliness and lack of inspiration felt in front of an empty stand or a distant crowd contrasts strangely with the spirit which invades a competitor when he faces the atmosphere of a 'full house'.
"It is only under these auspicious conditions that the majority of men, however phlegmatic in themselves, are able to produce their greatest form," (1) Lovelock said.
That will be the challenge that will face rugby players, and all sportspeople around the world, as they compete in empty stadiums.
Some may not be affected, they may achieve the balance that Lovelock described, but others will struggle and that will need to be remembered by those watching from the distance through their television screens.
1 - J.E. Lovelock, Growing Opinions – A symposium of British Youth Outlook, ed Alan Campbell Johnson, chapter on Youth and Modern Sport by Jack Lovelock, Methuen and Co Ltd, London, 1935.