New Youth Sports Guidance

[Eusebio]

But let's be clear....by asking them to sacrifice soccer, school and socialization, we are actively hurting the younger generation for the sake of the old.

I don't think it's as black and white as that. If I get extremely sick, that's going to affect my ability to provide for my family and my daughter. And if I die from COVID, well that would definitely negatively impact my daughter in a very long lasting way. So I can't just willy nilly sacrifice my health because I'm old and my daughter is young. From a functional standpoint, my daughter relies on me maintaining my health until she's self sufficient, never mind the emotional implications.

That said, I totally feel where you're coming from and every child and family dynamic is different. It's obviously difficult for everyone but how a child copes with the lack of school, soccer, and socialization will vary from one child to the next. Which means parents will make personal choices to handle their own unique challenges.

But when it comes to team sports, group events, and etc, guidelines have to be created with the lowest common denominator in mind. For example any given soccer team may have parents with ages anywhere from 30 - 55. Some also have grandparents who are heavily involved in either pickup/dropff or child care. These people are critical in the child's life and they can't just be "sacrificed". So when constructing guidelines and policy, it has to have both the child's safety in mind and their support system. It's not about some distant nursing home. If we're putting the child's support system at moderate or high risk, then the child is at risk as well. It's that aspect that gets overlooked when people debate the restrictions.

Some things like this can't be dictated purely by parental choice. Because of the Rat Race of competitive youth sports, too many parents will sign a waiver and unknowingly put their kid's (or teammate's) support system at risk, so they don't fall behind and the clubs who need to make money will also encourage this. Grace, it sounds like you properly assessed the situation for your son and your family. But there may be those who take unnecessary risks to avoid falling behind even though their kid's support system might be fragile. There's also the issue of kids still showing up to training/games even though they or someone in their family is sick. The youth guidelines have to account for this with team sports, knowing there will never be 100% compliance and yet they have to protect the child's safety and their support system.

 

[Dargle]

Does say either but 7 high school age teenages on that team and they where quarantine, tested, etc

Galaxy suspend training as 11 from USL team test positive for coronavirus

The Galaxy have suspended training and increased COVID-19 testing after 11 members of its USL Championship affiliate tested positive for the virus.

www.yahoo.com

The players on the GII were not quarantined like the senior team players. They were only quarantined after they tested positive

 

[Paul Spacey]

Or keep playing but at a lower level. Many different levels of soccer to fit everyone’s work ethic and dedication. Some kids just like playing for fun and don’t care about maximizing their potential on the pitch.

Agreed; more power to the kids who play for fun and just want to have a smile on their face.

I was referring to the fact that the majority of members here seem to have kids who are serious about the game; those kids need to be practicing individually and this is a great test for how much they truly love playing, that’s all. No judgement for any kid who just wants to have a bit of fun or even those who want to quit playing; it’s an individual choice.

 

[Grace T.]

I don't think it's as black and white as that. If I get extremely sick, that's going to affect my ability to provide for my family and my daughter. And if I die from COVID, well that would definitely negatively impact my daughter in a very long lasting way. So I can't just willy nilly sacrifice my health because I'm old and my daughter is young. From a functional standpoint, my daughter relies on me maintaining my health until she's self sufficient, never mind the emotional implications.

I’ll agree it’s not black and white. The thing that makes this really tough is except for the very old this is not a killer virus. If it were it would be easy and we’d shut it all down. It’s also not the flu and in some unknown % of people has serious long term health issues. Add to that we all value risk differently and it’s a tough tough situation. The debate really centers on who should make that decision and I always err on treating people like adults capable of weighing the risk for themselves and their children.

 

[Keepermom2]

There really should be some clarity and they should just announce that no competitions will occur this fall. End of story.

Yes, in terms of death and severe illness, children seem to be at an extremely low risk. But I think it's short-sighted to use that as the only barometer to assess risk to the community. We still don't know the exact transmissions rates for asymptomatic kids with some preliminary studies suggesting kids from ages to 10 to 18 spread it just as easily as adults. And with kids under 10, they've been mostly locked down for the past 6 months, so we simply don't know yet.

The concern isn't necessarily my daughter is going to die from playing an outdoor scrimmage. The concern is if she picks up COVID and becomes a asymptomatic carrier and brings it home. I have hypertension. So while my daughter is in the very low risk category, i'm definitely higher risk. Our kids don't get to play soccer in a bubble. Parents pick them up and they live at home with adults who may be older or have underline conditions. Especially in middle / lower income communities, the adults may have health conditions that are undiagnosed. So until we have more concrete data, I think it's prudent to be overly cautious.

As for other states running youth competitions, a few people brought up Texas and Arizona as good examples.. I'm not sure why we're using them as good examples for running youth competitions when they've just had huge surges in cases. Our tracing system is almost non-existent, so we don't really know what the primary vectors of transmission are. It seems we're only effective at tracking hospitalizations and deaths and transmissions up to one degree of separation at this point. Yes indoor bars/clubs are high risk, but there's little data on things that might spread at a moderate/low level.

Also unlike other states, we (California) have several HUGE metropolitan areas, so the stakes are higher. We're not as dense as New York, so I din't think we'll ever see things accelerate like it did over there. But due to our huge population with diverse communities and local governments, if things go really sideways, it'll be very hard to put things back in the toothpaste. We're not like some Midwest state with 1-2 mid-size/large cities surrounded by empty space. Locking down one city basically stops their COVID cases. We have large and small communities sprawled out everywhere. In SoCal, you can't drive for more than 5 minutes and not end up in another city or community. It's why when OC restricted training for youth sports, a bunch of OC clubs flooded into the north county of SD. It's very easy for us to move around to other large communities. This means California can't have the same guidelines as Kansas or Utah. New York brought their numbers down by being extremely draconian. It sucked but it was necessary due to the high density of their population. Our overly cautious guidelines also suck, but I also think it's necessary given our population, geography, and diversity. We have to have guidelines that are suited for California, not Arizona.

I love soccer. My kids love soccer. I definitely miss watching them play. But the one upside to this situation is that my daughter has discovered other things she loves as well. The break from endless traveling, training, and tournaments has created space for her to explore other interests. The attitude of us parents can also affect our child's well-being during the pandemic. If we're constantly sulking and complaining about the unfairness of everything, then our kids will feed off that negativity and be miserable as well. Let's not define our kid's happiness by whether they can play in Surf Cup at the end of September or in Presidio/CSL/SCDSL/DPL/GDA/MLSDA/ECNL/NPL this fall. Just encourage them to still get touches and exercise but let them explore various interests that they would normally never have time to do. Focus on trying to make this fall school year at least somewhat comfortable whether it's online only or in-person distance learning, that's going to be a challenge in itself.

Just in terms of priorities with everything your child has to deal with and the uncertainty with the pandemic I think fall soccer competitions rank pretty low. Someone needs to put their big boy/girl pants on and just announce in a clear declarative sentence that every youth club will understand, "THERE WILL BE NO YOUTH COMPETITIONS IN 2020". Done. The remaining 4 months of 2020 will be focused on training with hopefully the return of competitions in 2021, which should be ample prep time for organizers and for consumer confidence to return.

I usually don't read long posts but this post was so well said and I couldn't agree more.

 

[timbuck]

There really should be some clarity and they should just announce that no competitions will occur this fall. End of story.

Yes, in terms of death and severe illness, children seem to be at an extremely low risk. But I think it's short-sighted to use that as the only barometer to assess risk to the community. We still don't know the exact transmissions rates for asymptomatic kids with some preliminary studies suggesting kids from ages to 10 to 18 spread it just as easily as adults. And with kids under 10, they've been mostly locked down for the past 6 months, so we simply don't know yet.

The concern isn't necessarily my daughter is going to die from playing an outdoor scrimmage. The concern is if she picks up COVID and becomes a asymptomatic carrier and brings it home. I have hypertension. So while my daughter is in the very low risk category, i'm definitely higher risk. Our kids don't get to play soccer in a bubble. Parents pick them up and they live at home with adults who may be older or have underline conditions. Especially in middle / lower income communities, the adults may have health conditions that are undiagnosed. So until we have more concrete data, I think it's prudent to be overly cautious.

As for other states running youth competitions, a few people brought up Texas and Arizona as good examples.. I'm not sure why we're using them as good examples for running youth competitions when they've just had huge surges in cases. Our tracing system is almost non-existent, so we don't really know what the primary vectors of transmission are. It seems we're only effective at tracking hospitalizations and deaths and transmissions up to one degree of separation at this point. Yes indoor bars/clubs are high risk, but there's little data on things that might spread at a moderate/low level.

Also unlike other states, we (California) have several HUGE metropolitan areas, so the stakes are higher. We're not as dense as New York, so I din't think we'll ever see things accelerate like it did over there. But due to our huge population with diverse communities and local governments, if things go really sideways, it'll be very hard to put things back in the toothpaste. We're not like some Midwest state with 1-2 mid-size/large cities surrounded by empty space. Locking down one city basically stops their COVID cases. We have large and small communities sprawled out everywhere. In SoCal, you can't drive for more than 5 minutes and not end up in another city or community. It's why when OC restricted training for youth sports, a bunch of OC clubs flooded into the north county of SD. It's very easy for us to move around to other large communities. This means California can't have the same guidelines as Kansas or Utah. New York brought their numbers down by being extremely draconian. It sucked but it was necessary due to the high density of their population. Our overly cautious guidelines also suck, but I also think it's necessary given our population, geography, and diversity. We have to have guidelines that are suited for California, not Arizona.

I love soccer. My kids love soccer. I definitely miss watching them play. But the one upside to this situation is that my daughter has discovered other things she loves as well. The break from endless traveling, training, and tournaments has created space for her to explore other interests. The attitude of us parents can also affect our child's well-being during the pandemic. If we're constantly sulking and complaining about the unfairness of everything, then our kids will feed off that negativity and be miserable as well. Let's not define our kid's happiness by whether they can play in Surf Cup at the end of September or in Presidio/CSL/SCDSL/DPL/GDA/MLSDA/ECNL/NPL this fall. Just encourage them to still get touches and exercise but let them explore various interests that they would normally never have time to do. Focus on trying to make this fall school year at least somewhat comfortable whether it's online only or in-person distance learning, that's going to be a challenge in itself.

Just in terms of priorities with everything your child has to deal with and the uncertainty with the pandemic I think fall soccer competitions rank pretty low. Someone needs to put their big boy/girl pants on and just announce in a clear declarative sentence that every youth club will understand, "THERE WILL BE NO YOUTH COMPETITIONS IN 2020". Done. The remaining 4 months of 2020 will be focused on training with hopefully the return of competitions in 2021, which should be ample prep time for organizers and for consumer confidence to return.

How many kids had a chance to try tubing / wakeboarding / waterskiing this summer? My kids did.

 

[Keepermom2]

If that’s what you got out of reading his/her post then you should probably re-read it. And, heor she isn’t the only one who wishes they would just call the season because of all the back and forth with shutdowns etc., it’s very frustrating for parents and players. I’ve read other people post just call it and focus on whatever training is allowed. You’re entitled to your decision for your kids of course, but unfortunately if people continue to do whatever the hell they please we’re never going to be able to get the kids to play.

Also....the indecisiveness of how school will proceed as well as soccer can add more stress on the kids who are already dealing with the other stresses that this pandemic has provided. I have tried to inform my DD how we will proceed if X happens and if Y happens and when decisions will be made. I took soccer out of the mix for a variety of reasons and determined for myself the 20/21 season is over for her age so she can focus on improving her skills through private training which she loves and she can know what to expect for the next 6 months.

 

[GT45]

M

If that’s what you got out of reading his/her post then you should probably re-read it. And, heor she isn’t the only one who wishes they would just call the season because of all the back and forth with shutdowns etc., it’s very frustrating for parents and players. I’ve read other people post just call it and focus on whatever training is allowed. You’re entitled to your decision for your kids of course, but unfortunately if people continue to do whatever the hell they please we’re never going to be able to get the kids to play.

My issue is with parents who want to make decisions for all of us. "Just shut it down." If you don't like what is going on don't play this season. We don't need the negative ones dictating for the rest of us. Simple really.

 

[GT45]

I don't think it's as black and white as that. If I get extremely sick, that's going to affect my ability to provide for my family and my daughter. And if I die from COVID, well that would definitely negatively impact my daughter in a very long lasting way. So I can't just willy nilly sacrifice my health because I'm old and my daughter is young. From a functional standpoint, my daughter relies on me maintaining my health until she's self sufficient, never mind the emotional implications.

That said, I totally feel where you're coming from and every child and family dynamic is different. It's obviously difficult for everyone but how a child copes with the lack of school, soccer, and socialization will vary from one child to the next. Which means parents will make personal choices to handle their own unique challenges.

But when it comes to team sports, group events, and etc, guidelines have to be created with the lowest common denominator in mind. For example any given soccer team may have parents with ages anywhere from 30 - 55. Some also have grandparents who are heavily involved in either pickup/dropff or child care. These people are critical in the child's life and they can't just be "sacrificed". So when constructing guidelines and policy, it has to have both the child's safety in mind and their support system. It's not about some distant nursing home. If we're putting the child's support system at moderate or high risk, then the child is at risk as well. It's that aspect that gets overlooked when people debate the restrictions.

Some things like this can't be dictated purely by parental choice. Because of the Rat Race of competitive youth sports, too many parents will sign a waiver and unknowingly put their kid's (or teammate's) support system at risk, so they don't fall behind and the clubs who need to make money will also encourage this. Grace, it sounds like you properly assessed the situation for your son and your family. But there may be those who take unnecessary risks to avoid falling behind even though their kid's support system might be fragile. There's also the issue of kids still showing up to training/games even though they or someone in their family is sick. The youth guidelines have to account for this with team sports, knowing there will never be 100% compliance and yet they have to protect the child's safety and their support system.

You are concerned about your ability to provide for you child. What about the coaches ability to provide for their children? If you are at risk, your daughter should probably sit this season out.

 

[espola]

M

My issue is with parents who want to make decisions for all of us. "Just shut it down." If you don't like what is going on don't play this season. We don't need the negative ones dictating for the rest of us. Simple really.

I agree with your last sentence.

 

[Ellejustus]

M

My issue is with parents who want to make decisions for all of us. "Just shut it down." If you don't like what is going on don't play this season. We don't need the negative ones dictating for the rest of us. Simple really.

I was talking to myself a little bit today and was wondering how I would handle things for my goat if I had underlying health issues. I would self quarantine until a vaccine. If my goat was so so player, I would still stay inside. This is just me. It isnt just soccer. My dd goes everywhere, everyday. The only true and safe way for me to stay alive 100% and risk free is for me to stay in my master suite and never leave and I would do that for sure. I already do that now kind of. I would just make my own kitchen and have my kids and wife stay away.

 

[Luis Andres]

I was talking to myself a little bit today and was wondering how I would handle things for my goat if I had underlying health issues. I would self quarantine until a vaccine. If my goat was so so player, I would still stay inside. This is just me. It isnt just soccer. My dd goes everywhere, everyday. The only true and safe way for me to stay alive 100% and risk free is for me to stay in my master suite and never leave and I would do that for sure. I already do that now kind of. I would just make my own kitchen and have my kids and wife stay away.

i like that choice. I would do the same

 

[Ellejustus]

i like that choice. I would do the same

It's the least that I can do and my mother would have done the same thing for me 100%. The fact is, I was much like Grace's boy. I was so into sports as a teenager that I had to play. I would have hopped the fence just like Little Messy Jr did. No way I could have stayed inside. I feel bad for the girls & boys who lost their senior year or Fr year because of the virus and other things.

 

[Ellejustus]

Snappy Sunday​

Have any of you "snapped" in the last five months? The other day I was being, "Snappy the Turtle." All this life stuff finally got to me and I was just going around and snapping at people I love. I snapped out of it before I went to bed and I feel way better. I know I can get real snappy on the Socal Soccer Forum with a few folks and Dom had to come save us all before we all went off the cliff. Thanks Dom I like the positive energy I see going on here at the forum. I will keep my ego in check

 

[Footy30]

It's also house party goers, protesters and professional athletes that can't stay out of strip clubs for 10 minutes.

Hey @The Outlaw one of those athletes only went in to the strip club to get some food... cut him a break... hahaha I mean why else would someone go to a strip club if it wasn't for the great food..

 

[Mic Nificent]

Why not have the nude ballet dancers quarantine and set up shop inside the bubble lol??

 

[Copa9]

You are concerned about your ability to provide for you child. What about the coaches ability to provide for their children? If you are at risk, your daughter should probably sit this season out.

With the collection of fees from last season, the beginning of collection of fees for the upcoming year and the $300,000 - $1,000,000 PPP that the clubs are getting and coaches private training, I don't think they are in too much danger of not being able to provide for their children.

 

[Ellejustus]

This is interesting article from Soccer America. We should all watch this closely out in PA.

The Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association, one of the largest youth soccer organizations in the country, has decided to go ahead with fall activities after its board voted on Thursday evening to sanction activities, including team training, scrimmages and competitions, despite Governor Tom Wolf's recommendation that all youth sports (pre-kindergarten through 12th grade) be postponed through the end of the year.

A release from Wolf's office on behalf of Pennsylvania's Department of Health and Department of Education stated that “this is a strong recommendation and not an order or mandate." It covered competitions, intramural play and scrimmages but did not apply to pro or college sports.

Established in 1972, EPYSA stated it had complied with all directives from federal, state and soccer authorities to proceed toward the restarting of soccer activities with allowances for camps and guided stages of restarting:
"We believe our community has carefully followed state guidance and has shown great care and respect for the children we serve as well as the parents, coaches, referees and other volunteers that make up our association."

EPYSA added that it will respect the decision of anyone who is uncomfortable and decides to sit out the fall season and it will comply with any order Governor Wolf issues for a postponement or suspension of play.

"Until such a time," it said, "we must continue practicing the necessary mitigation strategies of wearing a mask, social distancing and minimizing spectators and so forth. We also share with many of you, that the aspects of physical activity and mental health for our children are quite important, and that their participation in sport can be a positive contribution to their well-being."

 

[GT45]

With the collection of fees from last season, the beginning of collection of fees for the upcoming year and the $300,000 - $1,000,000 PPP that the clubs are getting and coaches private training, I don't think they are in too much danger of not being able to provide for their children.

There were very few clubs who applied for the PPP. And, you assume the club is paying coaches with that money. A lot of club coaches were furloughed during the spring when club shut down. And, you can bet it would only get worse if we shut down again. So yeah my concern for them is valid.

 

[Ellejustus]

Hold on one more day Socal, we can do this together. Things will go your way, if you just hold on for one more day

 

[Mic Nificent]

Clubs should adopts the model others follow by charging $50 a month for “coaching fees”. Half goes to the club fund and the other half to the coach or the club could let the coach keep the $50. Depending on roster size and splitting up the fees that anywhere from $300-$900 a month for a coach for just one team. Most coaches have several. It adds up. 3 teams can bring up to $2700 a month if not more.