Wow.. better not come to Arizona this weekend. Fri, Sat and Sun clubs will be running scrimmages for all age groups. Then Next weekend the clubs are doing informal play arounds against other clubs all over metro Phoenix. Now there are rules and protections in place but
the kids are playing.
Guidelines from the announcement.
As of today, the state government guidance still requires that at no more than 50 people can gather in one place, and most of the city parks have adopted that guidance as well. This is one of the reasons we ask parents to stay in the car or away from the fields when we train or scrimmage. The adherence to this request has been comprehensive within the club and we appreciate your understanding and actions. We anticipate this guidance could loosen over the coming weeks, and perhaps even for the festival of futbol, and we will keep you updated. Once the state has updated its guidelines I anticipate our state association guidelines will be similar. For now, I can share what most of the states who are playing soccer games right now have implemented:
- One parent per child may watch the game and that parent must wear a mask. Some associations have said one parent for u12 and below and no spectators for u13 and above.
- All coaches must wear a mask and the number of coaches allowed on the sideline will be reduced to ensure more space for distancing.
- Entry and exit from the field will be done in a timely manner.
- Social distancing will be enforced on the bench.
Again, for now, we cannot have any spectators but we believe once spectators are allowed it will look something like what is described above. To be clear the focus is on making sure that the times of extended exposure in a close space are limited. We have shared studies and data over the past weeks regarding the safety of soccer due to the lack of prolonged exposure to any one person at any one time. The guidelines surrounding the games will help ensure that there is no prolonged exposure for those watching and participating. Tournaments and games have been going full speed ahead in many states including those with high infection rates like Texas. Yet, there have still been no alerts of community spread thru soccer as the safety measures around the games have kept everyone as safe as possible.