Soccer players return to pitch for practice

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This article was published 17/06/2020 (2262 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s going to look and feel different, but organized soccer is officially back.

The Manitoba Soccer Association entered Stage 1 of its return-to-participation plan on Wednesday, which allows some in-person and sanctioned soccer in the province.

The MSA released recommendations to their clubs for Stage 1, which include: non-contact outdoor training is permitted as long as players and coaches remain two metres apart, except for brief exchanges; players should bring their own balls; players can only contact the ball below the waist; shared equipment to only be handled by its owner; and no spectators.

“Our guidelines and recommendations are being provided to our members in order to mitigate risk and keep it as low as possible. It’s not necessary that they comply with every single one of those requirements. Again, they’re not even requirements, they’re recommendations and suggestions,” said MSA executive director Héctor Vergara in a phone interview.

“The more they comply, the lower the risk, so this is the idea. We realize that in some cases some of the organizations may not be able to comply fully 100 per cent with every single one of those things because they may not have the resources.”

It could be a week, two weeks, or longer until they advance to Stage 2, which would allow contact training limited to six-on-six. The third and final stage is when outdoor competition can resume.

The Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference announced on Wednesday that if soccer reaches Stage 3, they plan on having their men’s and women’s seasons in 2020. Assiniboine Community College, Brandon University, Canadian Mennonite University, Providence University College and Université de Saint-Boniface are all on board to playing soccer this fall.

Vergara spoke on the status of other soccer leagues in Manitoba.

“It depends a lot on them in a sense of when they’re planning on (starting). If they plan on playing in August or September, there’s a possibility they could actually play a season out. If we can get back on the pitch in July, it will be available for them to participate,” Vergara said.

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While there may be light at the end of the tunnel for the local soccer scene, Vergara said this year is still far from business as usual for the MSA.

“My inclination in this situation is to project that we’re probably going to lose 40 per cent of the players for this summer because of a number of factors. One is financial, as some families may not have the means to have their children participate in activities this summer because of things related to COVID-19. So, that’s going to have an impact… Some people, even if they have the money and the resources to come back and play and participate in a club, some parents are just not going to be willing to take the risk even though the risk may be very low.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.