Summer Season Cancelled
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. Last night, 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!
