Unfortunately, this fall season completes the trifecta of all 2020 soccer being cancelled.

MASS player passes expiring in 2020 are extended to December 31, 2021 and passes expiring in 2021 will be extended to 2022.

Letter from the President, Dee Wooley

As I sit here on this beautiful late summer day that is a perfect soccer day it is with an extremely heavy heart that I announce that the EMWSL Fall 2020 season is cancelled. This week the board met again after many weeks of discussions, analysis, and reviews of many mandates on play we made the exceedingly difficult decision to cancel the fall season. 
 
As was said this summer the current global pandemic is fluid and changing daily.  For transparency, I would like to share with you some of the factors that were taken into careful consideration when making this decision:
 

• Field permitting: It has become apparent that many localities are not currently issuing permits. Many localities are following state guidelines, but Boards of Health have the ultimate decision and feel the risks are too great. As a result then localities cannot permit fields.
• Timing of the season: As Universities and Schools are now opening the worry is that we will have a new surge in this area making more players susceptible to the virus and then with play possibly spreading the virus.
• Responsibility to our community: We again discussed the impact of a confirmed COVID cases on a team, the multiple teams impacted, and the chances of our players taking COVID out into the communities we live in.

 
Although we discussed the logistical challenges and many positive and negative consequences of playing, our decision came down again to one simple focus, the safety and well-being or our players, coaches, referees and all of our families and communities. This is our top priority.
 
We all know how important a role soccer plays in all our lives and the friendships and support system we enjoy on and off the pitch. As a board we will continue to work and plan now for a spring season and we all hope for the world that we get on top of this pandemic and eradicate it for good.  As a board we appreciated listening to all the team managers at our biannual August league meeting held via zoom. As a board most of us are players but hearing how teams were feeling about possibly playing meant so much to the board and I feel helped us make our eventual decision. 
 
In the meantime, you are welcome to get together in small groups under the current Guidelines provided by our state association and these are posted right on the Mass Soccer home page. Stay up to date with soccer announcements on our EMWSL or Mass Soccer websites and social media.  Members of our board and Mass Spirit Women’s Soccer Club are willing to assist teams in skills/drills workout sessions if needed. Mass Spirit has been working out for weeks now trying to do small sided workouts and more importantly working on video modules of an ACL prevention program for teams to follow. I feel this training is so important as many players have not played in 6-8 months and we want to ensure players have all the tools to stay healthy. 
 
If there is anything that I can do to help or answer any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask and I can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected]. My wish for you is that you have good health and peace in these uncertain times.  I am confident that we all will emerge stronger and we will get back on the pitch!
 
All my best!
 
Deirdre “Dee” Woolley
President EMWSL

Our semi-annual league meeting was held Tuesday, August 11 via Zoom with 36 participants.

Our minutes for past meetings are available under the "ABOUT EMWSL" drop down menu.

Click here for the August 2020 minutes.

Letter from the President, Deirdre "Dee" Woolley

First and foremost, I hope this note finds you and your family to be in good health and safe. We are all experiencing something that none of us could have imagined. 

Unfortunately, the current global pandemic is fluid and changing daily. After thoughtful discussion, the Board decided to cancel the 2020 EMWSL summer season. It with sadness that I make this announcement.  For transparency, I would like to share with you some of the factors that were taken into careful consideration when making this decision:

• Field permitting: It has become apparent that many localities will not issue permits until July 6th at the earliest. Many localities also stated there could be restrictions which could exclude use for contact sports. Many teams may not be able to secure a field and won’t know this information until July 6th.
• Referees: In order to recruit referees, we need a schedule with field locations. Without confirmed field permits, we can’t assign referees to games.
• Timing of the season: Even if we were able to schedule and assign referees, and get this information out to teams, in less than a week, the best case scenario would be that we would be able to start July 13th, leaving only 2-3 weeks for a season. 
• Responsibility to our community: We discussed the impact of a confirmed COVID case on a team, the multiple teams impacted, and the chances of our players taking COVID out into the communities we live in, and in the case of our college players, back to the schools and teams they hope to return to in the fall.

Although we discussed the logistical challenges and many positive and negative consequences of playing, our decision came down to one simple focus, the safety and well-being or our players, coaches, and referees and their families and communities. This is our top priority.

We all know how important a role soccer plays in all our lives and the friendships and support system we enjoy on and off the pitch. Our board will meet again at the end of July to evaluate a possible August and Fall season. 

In the meantime, you are welcome to get together in small groups under these Guidelines provided by our state association. Stay up to date with soccer announcements on our EMWSL or Mass Soccer websites or social media.

If there is anything that I can do to help, please don’t hesitate to ask and I can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected]. My wish for you is that you have good health and peace in these uncertain times. I am confident that we all will emerge stronger in so many different ways. We will get back on the pitch!

It is with great sadness that we let you know about the passing of a longtime league soccer coach Agrippino “Arthur” Schena on June 6th, 2020.  Although Arthur has not coached in the league the last number of years he coached many of our league players over 27years as Coach of Schena A.C. team. Many of us remember him as a coach who was fiercely dedicated to his players and a feisty member at our league soccer meetings. Arthur was a very strong supporter of women’s soccer and our league and we send our condolences to his family. For those interested in services or sending e-condolences please refer to www.legacy.com visit: tewksburyfuneral.com