MLS: Reopening training grounds a step in right direction
By Sam Minton
MLS announced on Friday that players will be able to train at their club’s facilities on May 6th. It is a step in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go.
These days it is hard to find good news. However, for those that are desperate to see the return of sports, and Major League Soccer in particular, of which there will be many, we received some positive steps this week.
On Friday, the league announced in a statement that players can start training at their club’s facilities beginning May 6th.
“Major League Soccer today announced that as of Wednesday, May 6, players may begin to use outdoor team training fields for individual workouts, in compliance with detailed health and safety protocols that were created in consultation with medical and infectious disease experts”, a statement read. “All individual workouts are voluntary and may not be in conflict with local public health official or government policies.”
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“By allowing players, on a voluntary basis, to utilize team-operated fields for individual workouts, MLS clubs will be able to provide a controlled environment that ensures adherence to safety protocols and social distancing measures for players and staff,” the statement continued.
Players, then, will still need to follow protocols laid out by health and safety officials but they will be able to work out to ensure that they are fit and ready for when the season does return, which is still scheduled to be in June.
MLS is one of the first major sports organizations in the United States to make some sort of a return. The NBA seemed poised to open up their team’s facilities but after pushback decided to postpone the idea. Instead, MLS will be leading the way when it comes to opening up facilities in the COVID-19 era.
Soccer lends itself to being a sport where players can social distance when they are practicing. It’s not like other sports where practices require your hands all over the balls or equipment. Kicking the ball is easy to do even when standing six feet apart.
As the statement from MLS says, players will be separated and facilities will be deeply cleaned. Also, players’ temperatures will be checked when they enter the facilities and access to significant parts of the facilities like the locker rooms, team gyms, and team training rooms will be prohibited unless otherwise agreed upon.
In the end, this is only a small step in the right direction. Players still cannot train as a team. Coaches also cannot be with them and very few drills can be done as a result. In essence, this is to provide the players with a field with a little more equipment and protection to do what they would be doing at home.
We are still a ways away from games being played. The world just isn’t ready yet and there needs to be more development, assessment, and national and global containment of the virus before it is safe to play.
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Seeing that MLS is one of the first leagues to have some sort of practice makes you think that it could be one of the first major sports back. And this is certainly progress to the resumption of the season. But there is still a long way to go.