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Diane Scavuzzo
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NPSL Cancels Upcoming Season Amidst Pandemic
The massive disruption in soccer around the globe is starting to have a permanent impact. Only weeks into the Coronavirus COVID-19 enforced moratorium on games and practice, soccer in American has begun to suffer.
The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is the first soccer league in the USA to cancel its 2020 Spring Men’s soccer season as a direct result of the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.
While the official announcement will be made by the NPSL tomorrow, it is clear that the upcoming men’s soccer season has been canceled by the league. The 94 teams with approximately 2,000 plus players will not play this spring.
While the hopes of Round Robin and friendlies still lingers — if the WHO and CDC change their recommendations because the spread of the Coronavirus COVID-19 abates and the country’s health returns — the official 2020 NPSL Spring season is a casualty of the pandemic.
A lack of sponsorship is another reason games will not be played. A significant number of NPSL reams are sponsored by small businesses that have been forced to close to slow the spread of the Coronavirus.
One of the additional reasons for canceling the NPSL season were issues with many of the venues contracted for the Spring season. Several of the NPSL teams received notification of venue cancellations as public parks and high schools’ stadiums are closed in response to the outbreak.
Teams in states with an extended moratorium on social distancing and sheltering in place could be at a disadvantage — not being able to start practicing or hosting games while other clubs in their conference from different states might be back on the field.
In response to the 470,973 confirmed cased worldwide of the Coronavirus COVID-19 and over 21,276 deaths from this pandemic, states in the USA have announced varying dates projected for returning to the field. While many states are following the CDC’s current recommendations for May 10, other states have extended the moratorium until June making games and practice sessions impossible for some teams.
Just this week, the World Health Organization (WHO) and FIFA announced a joint campaign to slow the spread of COVID-19, ‘Kick Out Coronavirus’ with Carli Lloyd, Alisson Becker, Gianluigi Buffon, Lionel Messi, Yaya Touré, Gary Lineker, Xavi Hernández among others. Reminding everyone that we are all on the same team and that our opponent is the disease, the video’s goal is to raise awareness of the necessary safety protocols.
Read: FIFA & WHO “PASS THE MESSAGE, KICK OUT CORONAVIRUS”
Soccer has been hard hit by this unprecedented pandemic but we, all of us who love the beautiful game, are passionate, dedicated and determined. We will just have to wait to cheer for our local NPSL teams when they start back up!
The post THE IMPACT OF COVID-19: NPSL CANCELS SPRING 2020 SOCCER SEASON appeared first on SoccerToday.
Continue reading...
SoccerToday News from Diane Scavuzzo
The massive disruption in soccer around the globe is starting to have a permanent impact. Only weeks into the Coronavirus COVID-19 enforced moratorium on games and practice, soccer in American has begun to suffer.
The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is the first soccer league in the USA to cancel its 2020 Spring Men’s soccer season as a direct result of the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.
While the official announcement will be made by the NPSL tomorrow, it is clear that the upcoming men’s soccer season has been canceled by the league. The 94 teams with approximately 2,000 plus players will not play this spring.
While the hopes of Round Robin and friendlies still lingers — if the WHO and CDC change their recommendations because the spread of the Coronavirus COVID-19 abates and the country’s health returns — the official 2020 NPSL Spring season is a casualty of the pandemic.
A lack of sponsorship is another reason games will not be played. A significant number of NPSL reams are sponsored by small businesses that have been forced to close to slow the spread of the Coronavirus.
One of the additional reasons for canceling the NPSL season were issues with many of the venues contracted for the Spring season. Several of the NPSL teams received notification of venue cancellations as public parks and high schools’ stadiums are closed in response to the outbreak.
Teams in states with an extended moratorium on social distancing and sheltering in place could be at a disadvantage — not being able to start practicing or hosting games while other clubs in their conference from different states might be back on the field.
In response to the 470,973 confirmed cased worldwide of the Coronavirus COVID-19 and over 21,276 deaths from this pandemic, states in the USA have announced varying dates projected for returning to the field. While many states are following the CDC’s current recommendations for May 10, other states have extended the moratorium until June making games and practice sessions impossible for some teams.
Just this week, the World Health Organization (WHO) and FIFA announced a joint campaign to slow the spread of COVID-19, ‘Kick Out Coronavirus’ with Carli Lloyd, Alisson Becker, Gianluigi Buffon, Lionel Messi, Yaya Touré, Gary Lineker, Xavi Hernández among others. Reminding everyone that we are all on the same team and that our opponent is the disease, the video’s goal is to raise awareness of the necessary safety protocols.
Read: FIFA & WHO “PASS THE MESSAGE, KICK OUT CORONAVIRUS”
Soccer has been hard hit by this unprecedented pandemic but we, all of us who love the beautiful game, are passionate, dedicated and determined. We will just have to wait to cheer for our local NPSL teams when they start back up!
The post THE IMPACT OF COVID-19: NPSL CANCELS SPRING 2020 SOCCER SEASON appeared first on SoccerToday.
Continue reading...
SoccerToday News from Diane Scavuzzo