Does anyone think the spring leagues and tournaments will be resumed/completed or cancelled like the NCAA sports? What will the affect be on tryouts?

All spring tournaments should be refunded by host clubs 100% now.

Clubs can make up their minds about player refunds, but I'd just as soon none be made.

My hope is that we can get in tryouts in August, just in time for fall to start. And that presumes that the restrictions put in place this spring and summer work well enough that the fall season is not cancelled.

This raises a very serious point we all have to face in the coming months regarding financial condition and ability to survive what is quickly becoming both a health and financial crisis.

I had a great conversation last week with a tournament director (host) who was refunding large majority of tournament fees to teams, but withhoding a portion to cover some of the upfront costs and perhaps a little toward their operating budget. I thought that was a fair compromise and understood the challenges many clubs will face that depend on these event revenues just to make ends meet.

Personally I don't see how much of a season can be salvaged (should a miracle cure be found) in our area since US Club (SCCL/CPL leagues included) has shut down all operations until at least weekend of April 18/19 and then you hit the Coast and JI events so will face usual issues of field space; team and ref availability. Only way would be to extend the whole year (like EPL and professional leagues) but that has many challenges (evals, season ending events, coach contracts, will teams still have coaches (see below), ref and player willingness, etc.)

COVID-19 will surely have a very significant and meaningful impact to youth soccer in our State and Nationally. Some local clubs and governng bodies have started laying off coaches and staff and I'd expect a lot more trimming as tournaments, camps, clinics, and other revenue opportunities diminish and reserves are spent. The case of family refunds must depend, I'm sure on what savings a club can make, and whether they can be returned. Some costs are sunk (long term land agreements), others (staff arguably, monthly rentals, adjunct training, etc.) preventable and we should all be responsible in returning any savings back to our membership to a fair degree (whether in credit or cash), rather than profit on misery.

As a coach/parent entered into an April tournament, I'd accept that some of those fees might be withheld should said event fold due to the broader health scare, but certainly would expect some back. After all these events wouldn't have to pay refs or rent extra space now. And full disclosure, CASC hosts no (revenue generating) events and so we are luckily free of at least this dilemna.

Stay safe everyone, and heed the warnings: this is serious.

I'd assume clubs have loopholes that say they can cancel and not give refunds. The decent clubs usually do anyway, especially if the tournament never starts.

I'd suggest that if a host clubs cancels and just keeps parents' money, tgose parents should tell their clubs not to return to said tournaments.

Agree, most clubs have 'natural disaster' style clauses on refund policy that could be cited in cases like weather or even COVID-19, and some even broaden that to include no refunds for any cancellations whatsoever without limiting reason.

Seems a shame since that organization will fall into my definition of profiting on misery, since they will now make more revenue by cancelling same event, and not refunding. It almost insents a club to cancel if they keep all the revenue but reduce the costs. At face value more margin for host club to abandon event than run it. Unless of course said event has to pay refs, event staff, field rentals, and other variable/'adhoc' costs whether or not they are used.

Like you, I hope that all hosting organisations look at this closely, accept that everyone is going to struggle financially (many parents will be laid off), and do the right thing while preserving what they need to cover existing/non-negotiable spend.

One thought, although I don't know how practical it is or how well it would be received, is a club could extend a credit to parents that come back to the club next year.

May be a dumb or impractical idea on my part though.

I think that is a great idea. I am interested to see how the clubs handle all of this. I hate it, but I think both school and sports are done for the spring.

I know a tournament in Rock Hill 2 years ago that cancelled due to one of the hurricanes, didn't refund the fees but rolled it over for teams to attend the next year. That might be an option for similar events that were cancelled/postponed this spring.

Many different facets to this discussion.

At its simplest point is the tournament, or club hosted event where host organization has to consider balancing different priorities to make a decision that satisfies different needs (or be totally selfish and serve only theirs). I think that internal debate is rather easy and has a number of answers including full refund, partial refund, no refund, or credit for future event. I'd favor partial refund (to be fair on hosts sunk costs) as future events and teams are uncertain. Very few teams will look the same in August, and for example, most competitive teams at U14 would not play next spring as U15 (as most would be in JV/Varsity ranks as freshmen).

What is much harder is how will clubs react if (when) the season is cancelled. Our leadership team is discussing this right now and making plans, but our financial model is quite simple so relatively easy for us. Mind you, we still have to consider looking after our coaches, staff, and 3rd party vendors to make sure they can survive and are paid fairly for what activities have happened since January, balanced against family or parental expectation that they should get something back (quite reasonably in most cases).

It will be much, much harder for clubs that have all inclusive fees (that include variable costs like leagues, refs and tournaments). Also the more full time staff and coaches to pay, the higher percentage of your budget is tied to salary cost and the human impact to refunds. Those that make hard decisions earlier, will save some of those costs and so naturally should be more inclined to refund the savings.

Seems to me, there should be a correlation here between diminishing spring costs and increasing refund.

What is most important for our club in our discussion is planning for a scenario where our actions in this regard reflects clearly and transparently that any savings we inevitably gain should be returned in some fashion and not added to our margin (typically target 5%) or profit in these sad times. Exactly how much that is, and how we do that is what we need to figure out.

Are there any updates to what refunds/credits the local soccer tournament hosts will give for the cancelled tournaments?

The bigger question for me is which clubs are going to refund their players for so much of a lost season and which ones will profit from this crisis? If I paid top dollar for a kid to play at an "elite" club and the season was cancelled (which it practically is), I would expect something back.

The season is not cancelled yet, but can't imagine much can be salvaged. US Club announced yesterday that it would extend its 'suspension' until at least May 1, and additionally noted: "We believe until a return-to-play date is established, and leagues agree on what will happen with the spring season, discussion of refunds is premature."

I am not entirely sure it is premature, but accept that there still remains some uncertainty and possibility of spring +/summer play.
School Districts and by reference, SCYS has similarly extended suspension until at least May 1.

As for tournies, this is all I know
SCUFC issued partial refund (most refunded)
Coast FA issued future open credit (and swallowed upfront costs)
USA/MP announced postponement/reschedule (that I would tend to think will mean a future credit as not sure can get this event in during spring)
Haven't seen anything on JIYSC event yet.

CBSC sent the following statement:

CBSC Families,

Firstly, we hope that you are all safe and well during this truly difficult time. While we cannot wait to get back on the fields, watching our kids running around with their friends in a healthy environment, your continued safety and health is our number one priority. We will continue to follow the guidance of our state and local leaders as well as the South Carolina Youth Soccer Association (SCYSA), with whom all our players are registered.

Yesterday SCYSA announced that all soccer activities would be suspended until at least May 1st. Therefore, our club will not resume (in-person) activities until at least that date. Of course this situation is changing daily and we will continue to keep you informed of any updates and changes.

As we continue down this unprecedented path, there a few things we want you to know:

We will not lay off or furlough any of our coaches and staff. Just like you, this virus is impacting many areas of their lives. We will continue to honor our financial commitments to our CBSC team, hopefully providing a small amount of stability for them and their families.
We are continuing to fully maintain our playing facilities during this period. Crews are being paid, grass is being mowed, field treatments and pest control are being applied. This will ensure that when the suspensions are lifted, we will be ready to go!

At the time our season was put on hold, CBSC had paid tournament fees for 35 team tournament events. The vast majority of youth soccer tournaments have “no refund” clauses. As of today we have received approximately 15% in refunds, and do not expect the remaining expenses to be refunded in whole or part. We are not expecting refunds from the state association (registrar, insurance, etc.) at this point either.
While we can’t coach in person, we are still committed to helping our players develop during this time. Our directors and coaches are working closely to develop a library of activities that our players can leverage, including individual home practice sessions, skill-specific videos, documentaries and games. Coaches will be establishing regular Zoom meetings with the teams to discuss all these remote development efforts.
We are still working the details, but soon will be providing all of our players with Soccer Mindset Academy (www.soccermindsetacademy.com/) accounts. We piloted this platform with some of our teams this year, and believe it will be a great tool to keep the momentum going on all our players’ individual development during this time.

CBSC is truly committed to the long term development and health of each individual in our club. We will strive to maintain the high standards we have set and ask our players to do the same.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us!

So I read the CBSC statement to say that no refund, credits etc... will be directed to families. Essentially, it is a loss that families will have to eat.

Wonder if they will require paid tryouts/evaluations for next season.

Glad to see a club doing the right thing. If clubs are furloughing or laying off coaches then explanations need to be given on where the money/fees have gone.

Whoops.

Giving credit for fall tournies instead of refunds is a reasonable minimum option.

How many full time coaches does cbsc have?

First league cancelled. From US Youth Soccer late last night.

"For the past couple of weeks, the Piedmont Conference has evaluated, in collaboration with State Associations, the impact the coronavirus is having on our soccer communities. Following the release of new return-to-play guidelines by US Youth Soccer, the concerns surrounding inter-state travel, and recognizing the conflicts with State Cup programming within each State Association, the Piedmont Conference has made the difficult decision to not move forward with the remainder of the 2019-2020 seasonal year."

On the club site, they list 34 coaches. Not sure how many are full time. Looks like they are hiring:

https://www.chsbatterysc.com/job-opportunities

"USYS is cancelling the 2020 Presidents Cup, our 2020 National Championships and all of the regional competitions leading up to those two events."

Dr. Pete Zopfi – USYS Chair, Skip Gilbert – USYS CEO

Club Soccer in SC is still in a suspended state. SCYS leagues, CPL and SCCL remain in question until at least next week.
I'd expect more guidance with regard to those leagues from sanctioning bodies after April 15th.

Cainhoy Athletic did decide on April 9th to abandon any hope of its recreation, micro program for the spring and defer to summer options as the default alternative.
More detail for this, and our position on all Spring programming is detailed in letters to our membership dated 9th and 10th April, also published on our website.

CASC letter to membership - COVID-19

Stay safe all.

Came across this tonight.

https://www.soccertoday.com/when-can-youth-soccer-start-up-again-in-the-usa/

Your article asks "WHAT WOULD OUR YOUTH SOCCER LANDSCAPE LOOK LIKE IF 1 OUT OF EVERY 4 CLUBS FOLDED?" I would say pretty good in Charleston. Still too many clubs for a community this size.

Your efforts are commendable. I am not seeing anything like this out of the larger clubs.

For tournaments I heard that some are issuing vouchers.

Not sure I an stomach paying as much as I do for soccer and getting little or nothing in return.

Not exactly local, but SCUFC is being very transparent about their meetings, refunds, budget, plans, etc. They post it every week.

They really do seem to have great external communications. Most clubs just communicate internally or not at all.

I understand the need to pay coaches through this. I dont want them to go bankrupt and I consider my fees a sunk cost the moment Inwrite the check. The refunds should only be for items no longer paid for like referee fees, field fees(as applicable), travel fees, tournaments etc.

The refund (or credit) for tournaments, should be passed on as a refund(or credit) back to parents.

Yes. SCUFC has done a great job communicating throughout this time.

Charlottes Independence SC just released this. No concrete dates but very informative plan they have put together.

https://www.flipsnack.com/Independencesoccer/master-plan-fhiydea5t/full-view.html

Nice work by a few clubs. Then we have all the others....

Looks like JIYSC just sent out refund email (minus some admin costs). Great to see.

Are you talking about Tournament refund?? So far no refunds have been given for club fees.

Tournament. That's why I quoted coach Dave's tournament comments.

I would be very surprised to hear about any cash refunds for club fees. There seems to be several different approaches from clubs on this. My personal hope is for some type of programming to replace the 6 weeks of training that was lost or a part of that (sessions do get rained out.) I would like to think that all clubs are contemplating their way to provide a relative value even if they have not tried to publicize anything.

However, keeping all the tournament fees and issuing a credit for a future tournament/event strikes me as tricky. I am pretty sure most parents will get over any aggravation as soon as they to play in a credited event. However, the thought of entry fee money getting spent now, but you still have to put on an event in the future seems worrisome. Luckily, it is not a situation I have to deal with.

I am good not being refunded club fees. I like the Club we are at now and want my daughter's coach paid. All travel, tournament, ref fees etc. should be coming back to us.

SCUFC released their weekly statement this evening and it looks like they have made the decision to cancel the spring season for their club. . I would expect most other clubs to follow suit in the coming days.

https://twitter.com/scunited_fc/status/1251991104272183299?s=21

South Carolina governor, superintendent close K-12 schools for rest of school year.

So do you think the clubs will base their decisions based on that? or use the phasing guidlines put out last week?

We are awaiting final confirmation from all the leagues that we play in, and have an obligation to.

For those leagues that have cancelled already, we have informed teams of end of play. As soon as we get word from remaining competition, we will end play for both league and season ending events. Bottom line, I suspect most clubs will want to honor the commitment they made to the leagues entered (and other associated clubs).

Seems premature to end operations before league competition has cancelled. True, like most, I really think (and have for a while) there is very little chance of playing again this spring, but out of prudence and respect for our participation in various leagues, will defer to the leagues/sanctioning bodies/decision makers before making those decisions official and final.

US Club Soccer announced yesterday that it was holding decision on its regional competition until May 6th.
This doesn't really have bearing on us (at CASC) but probably does at several other clubs in our State

"Our guiding principle remains the health and safety of everyone involved – players, parents, coaches, referees and staff. With that in mind, and given our members' likely desire to favor local and regional competitions – with reduced travel and financial impact compared with national events – we intend to make decisions regarding our National Cup XIX Regionals on a per-event basis by May 6."

https://www.soccerwire.com/news/arizona-soccer-association-set-to-begin-return-to-play-process/

It looks like there is hope for the kids.

From: SC Youth Soccer

Dear Club Leadership:

This is a notice that our tentative return to play date is June 1st for Phase 1 only- you will receive the recommendations from SCYSA next week. We are still looking at possible changes to these recommendations during this fluid situation. There is a possibility the RTP date will be pushed back if given direction from the Governor's office.

Phase 1 prohibits physical contact between players and no shared equipment (soccer balls). The detailed recommendations provide you guidance on activating your soccer programs.

There is no liability coverage for any club prior to the reactivation of soccer activities in Phase 1 so you are reminded to avoid personal training as a club or registered SCYSA coach, no small group training or physical contact with any players.

Tryouts are tentatively set for June 15. No club is permitted to hold any type of evaluation prior to the Tryout date which is subject to change.

US Club releasing national hold on May 18th
May 14: LETTER FROM US CLUB SOCCER CEO KEVIN PAYNE REGARDING COVID-19

"We recognize that different parts of our country have been affected to a different degree by the impact of COVID-19. Therefore, we are lifting our national suspension of activities and delegating return-to-play decision making to our local members, effective May 18.

To be clear, this decision by no means is a blanket permission to return to the fields. Each member is expected to strictly follow state and local guidelines for the resumption of play. PLEASE NOTE: OUR INSURANCE IS ONLY IN EFFECT IF YOUR ACTIVITIES ARE CONSISTENT WITH LOCAL HEALTH AND SAFETY REQUIREMENTS AND GUIDELINES.

Please also note that any organized activities by our member leagues, clubs or teams require that players and staff have current 2019-20 pass cards in order to qualify for insurance coverage."

Cainhoy Athletic as member of US Club and SCYS will be following the more conservative (and regionally aware) SCYS guidelines

Thanks for the updates. I would assume since almost every club still uses the SCYSA for certain things, they would all be bound by the June 15 tryout date?

I wonder what tryouts would look like if phase 1 restrictions are still in place.

Our tryouts will likely look very different.

The running assumption (guidance) is that phase 1 restrictions will be in place during evals, so this will mean solo activities, well spread out, and limited numbers at one time.

Gone are the days of 100-150 kids running around Trident Academy playing 3v3, 4v4, etc. I'd imagine most clubs right now are really pondering how to set these up to fit guidance AND be an effective way to evaluate and host interested parties where you might expect > 20 kids. I know we are scratching our heads.

I've seen a few of the larger clubs (Charlotte Independence in particular) seem to be just having tryouts for new (to the club) players and they are offering current players team spots based on prior year observations, etc.

Would probably be a lot easier to run these restricted tryouts like that.

These restrictions will make for some very interesting evaluations. I know here at our club we’re sorting out a plan for any type of training & evaluations with all restrictions that may already be in place

SC United released their tryout dates and times. I would anticipate must other clubs to do the same in the coming days.

https://scunitedfc_travel.demosphere-secure.com/competitive/join-us-registration

Are any of the city or gov owned fields still closed? I would assume the restrictions put on fields would also be an issue to work around.

Most of the clubs in greater Charleston area are coordinating eval schedules and folks should expect to see these land very soon starting with older teams on June 13th.

I know MPRD has granted limited access to municipal fields in East Cooper, which should help those needing space for their evals. Beyond municipal availability even private field access is challenging due to required and recommended safety precautions, sanitizing stations, signs, etc.

Not to mention that we all need to repair our sites with seeding and rest while the grass growing (hot and wet) season hits in our region.

All the city owned fields in my area are open. The goals are all stacked up and chained together on some of the fields. I guess each municipality is different.

CUSC has their tryouts posted:

https://www.charlestonunitedsoccer.com/evals-clinics

Cesa has posted their dates:

https://carolinaelitesc.demosphere-secur...020Calendar.jpg

Carolina FC too.

https://bsbproduction.s3.amazonaws.com/p...information.pdf

5.29.20

The Lexington County Recreation and Aging Commission is excited to announce our plans to reopen our parks and facilities.

Please note the recreation and athletic facilities are subject to Governor Henry McMasters’ Executive Order 2020-17. The public is asked to practice social distancing while using our facilities. Below is the tentative reopening schedule. All park openings are subject to change and will be evaluated weekly.

June 1st:
• Outdoor Tennis/Pickleball Courts- Singles
• BMX Track

June 5th:
• Outdoor Tennis/Pickleball Courts- Singles, Doubles and Group Lessons

June 12th:
• Athletic Fields- team practices are allowed for league play- No games allowed
• Outdoor Facility rentals may resume
• Walking Trails
• Picnic Shelters- Gatherings limited to no more than 10 people
• Parks and Playgrounds

June 26th:
• Athletic fields- Games/tournaments are allowed

July 6th:
• Tennis Summer Camps
• Wellness Centers
• Gymnasiums
• Recreation Centers and Offices
• Programs, Classes and Facility Rentals within the Leisure Centers/Gymnasiums
• Senior Centers

These Lexington County Recreation and Aging Commission facilities and programs will remain closed until further notice:
• After school/Summer Camp programs

Home Delivered Meal “Meals on Wheels” will operate on normal schedule.

We look forward to seeing you again real soon!

JIYSC has released tryout dates.

https://jiysc.org/tryouts/

Cainhoy has posted their Mt Pleasant dates but not West Ashley.

https://cainhoyathletic.com/2020/05/04/2020-2021-evaluations/

DISA also has dates posted.

https://disacademy.org/events/try-out-schedule-for-2020-2021-seasonal-year/

A few of the clubs have started pre-tryout 'official' team technical practices this week. Saw Tormenta, JIYSC, CISC (south) are a few I know of. This is different than all of the individual 1on1 sessions going on.

I've seen that as well. Our club is doing that for the teams that lost their spring season. I'm sure some additional programming will be offered after tryouts as well.

We (Tormenta FC) are doing 45 minute sessions for all u13-u19 players that had their spring season cut short. With the restrictions in place, we were able to give every player a chance to have at least 2 weekly sessions.

Congaree Rapid FC Tryouts and Evaluations

We are all certainly bound, or should be, by governing guidelines and return to play protocols.

SCYS are (and to their immense credit have been) very clear on what is, and isn't acceptable, and under phase I status: activities are very restricted. US Club (for players under this alternate sanctioning body) offered a very direct communication this week about prudence and caution in return to play activities and we wholeheartedly agree.

I'd hope all organizations realize what is safe and covered under insurance and not advance activities beyond expert guidance or common sense. These are challenging times for sure, and our evals will surely look very different (we are trying to minimize attendance but still provide an opportunity to join our club) but at the end of the day, I'd just appeal that everyone put the health and safety of our families first.

PS
Kyle, like that new logo

Well said David

With our club being a part of both SCYSA & US Club, we decided to go with the SCYSA guidelines for all our activities that we have going on this month. It's been crazy and hectic trying to sort, but we've committed to it. As you said, tryouts will be very different & I hope all clubs are following the parameters set by SCYSA.

I know for us, we are having to do blocks so that every player can be evaluated fairly under the circumstances and restrictions in place. As you said coach, safety and well-being should be every club's priority during this time!

We are also following the more conservative and regionally aware SCYS protocols. One of the harder parts to manage for any club are facility constraints and demands that are imposed at the Governor/State level (regardless of sanctioning body and apply).

For example operating a Park right now requires social distancing signs in visible places, line spacing markers at restrooms, queuing areas, and concessions (these need to follow restaurant guidelines).

Sanitation is a huge hurdle with regular cleaning required and hand sanitizer stations (try buying hand sanitizer or commercial dispensers right now)

If your child is training on a field without these things, I'd ask a question or two.

US soccer has come out with their phase 2 rtp recommendations.

https://www.soccerwire.com/news/u-s-soccer-releases-phase-2-return-to-play-recommendations/

Virginia has updated their rtp.

https://www.soccerwire.com/news/virginia...return-to-play/