This post will keep you updated of the soccer practices/games status in relation with COVID19. Check back often. IYSA Return To Action Plan (4-stages plan)

• March 3rd, 2021

Spring 2021 RETURN TO PLAY PROTOCOLS

• Sep 10th, 2020

IYSA ISL RETURN TO PLAY POLICY

Games start this weekend! Please be familiar with these policies, CLICK LINK ABOVE OR READ DIRECTLY BELOW!

Click to access isl-fall-2020-restart-protocols-sept10.pdf

SPECTATORS LOCATION DURING  GAME DAY

• Aug 20th

IYSA soccer league and Real SC academy league will see their first games on Sat Sep 12, 2020. Stay tuned for guidelines on attendance of spectators.

• July 4th

Boise mayor mandates wearing mask in public starting July 4 as COVID-19 illnesses surge

• July 2nd

Meridian Mayor Simison Urges Community to MASK UP

• Monday, June 22nd.

Real SC Boise and Meridian Programs

Ada County regresses to Stage 3 as of Wednesday, 6/24 12:01AM.

Therefore:

Starting Wednesday June 24th, Practices and Games are cancelled for the U4-U7 Real SC academy League in Boise and Meridian. Games are cancelled for U8/U9 teams. Practices may continue for U8/U9 as long as social distancing is observed.

Competitive U9-U19 teams can continue training as long as social distancing is observed but no scrimmages are allowed. IYSA also has cancelled the rest of the league schedule

Middleton Program

U4-U9 Practices and games OK in Middleton.

IYSA competitive games are cancelled.

• June 12th Update

We will be on Stage 4 tomorrow! See IDAHO REBOUND healthy state guideliness here.

See League Schedules here!

May 18th update

This was sent to the club leadership by IYSA

Before we begin today’s update we would like everyone to know that IYSA gets all of the official Idaho State and local government information just the same way that all of you do.  We are not privy to any information prior to it’s release.

Stage 2 Information

Last week the Governor announced that Idaho has entered Stage 2 of his rebound plan. Stage 2 is not unlike Stage 1 for youth sports  and many of you will be returning to practice during this stage. It is important that if you have not done so, to develop an appropriate plan to make sure that you follow the Governors guidelines and enforce social distancing as well as appropriate sanitation measures. One thing that is vitally important to remember is that any return to play MUST BE OPTIONAL FOR ALL PARENTS / PLAYERS.  No one can be forced to participate and no one should be punished for not showing up.

As a reminder, there was a specific youth activity document released during Stage 1 by the Governor and that can be found here  https://rebound.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/stage1-protocols-youth.pdf Currently there is no Stage 2 document on youth activities and we are unsure as to if there will even be one as the Governors focus is producing similar documents for business that are just beginning to open.

Stage 3 Information (May 30-June 12)

Initially in Stage 3 we believed that we could return to full field play. Gathering numbers will be at 50 or less.  There are however some question marks as Stage 3 also refers to appropriate social distancing. We are seeking clarification

Stage 4 information (June 13-30)

Stage 4 looks a lot more promising with gathering numbers that are greater than 50 being  allowed and sporting venues can open with limited social distancing protocols.

USYS Return to play

US Youth Soccer has released its return to play guidelines and can be found attached to this e-mail.  Guidelines are not mandates, however a lot of the bullet points should be considered best practices as they align with the Governors documents and can be used to produce your own protocols and procedures.

Waivers

Several of you have been concerned about legal ramifications on the return to play. We have been advised that as long as you follow the Governors guidelines and are not negligent then it should be OK. I covered our bases and  contacted our insurance company and this weekend they sent me a sample of a simple hold harmless waiver (attached) that could be used should clubs wish to add an extra layer of protection for themselves.

State Cup

The city of Boise is currently stricter than a lot of areas and has shut down its parks to organized sports until at least May 30^th.  We have asked about the likelihood of play at the Simplot fields in June especially with State Cup in mind.  We have been told that it was unlikely at any point in June  but it is not ruled out and is day-to-day based on data.  Pushing State Cup into July is not ideal especially for a lot of the older ages, however before we make that decision we are working on an alternate location plan here in the Meridian area but it will require a two weekend approach separating older players and younger players.  We will have more info for you on that in the coming days as examine  if it is feasible or not.  The weekends would be the latter part of June .

League Play

There are a couple of leagues within Idaho.  Each league will determine it’s best way forward.  If you are in the ISL league in the treasure valley an e-mail will be coming out this week,  The Snake River League is currently in planning mode,  The North is trying to put some games together with neighboring clubs for when we return to match competition.

Documents for reference:

USYS RTA Document

COVID 19 Sample Waiver

We will endeavor to keep you all informed on further information as we receive it ourselves.

April 30th update

We can see the light at the end of the tunnel now!

Given IYSA’s “Return to action” soccer guidelines document published this week and based on the “OPENING UP IDAHO” 4-stage guidelines document Governor Little published also this week (see full IYSA “Return to Action” 4-stage guidelines annotated document here), our club is tentatively planning for the following:

(1) Academy  Program (U4-U9)

We will resume practices on Monday, June 1st (West Boise location) and June 2nd (South Boise and Middleton Locations) with the first game on Saturday, June 6th. These dates are within Stage 3 (Stage 3 tentatively starts on Sat, May 30th).

IYSA Guidelines at Stage 3 are:

Larger practices and games may begin under the following advisory conditions:

• Limited spectators
• Space the spectators out as much as possible
• Times between games will be extended to allow teams to move out of the area before the next teams arrive
• No two adjacent fields to be used at the same time.
• Advise at-risk spectators to stay home
• Observe game from other vantage points where possible e.g. elevated positions such as hills or from vehicles where possible.
• No after game handshakes, but cheering of opponent is highly encouraged
• Sanitizer available where possible, medical staff onsite at larger facilities where possible

The academy league will end on Saturday June 27th, as per the large family consensus on our internal survey. We will send separate information via email in the next few days to all academy families covering the timing of the publication of the new academy rosters, getting your uniforms, coaches assignments, league schedule etc etc.

(2) Competitive Program (U9-U19)

STAGE 1

Even so IYSA is OK with modified practices starting on May 1st as long as we are adhering to the Stage 1: Protocols for youth activities, we feel these guidelines are still too restrictive to do any meaningful soccer practices while at the same time ensuring safety. (Players please continue working per your head coach instructions and using our in-house HOME TRAINING PROGRAM VIDEOS).

STAGE 2

However, Real SC competitive program coaches at the individual team level are encouraged to resume practices (following all Stage 2 IYSA guidelines) on or after May 16th (this is the beginning of Stage 2).

IYSA Guidelines at Stage 2 are:

Practices may begin; however, care should be taken to ensure that you have the following:

• No more than 9 people present in one area
• Hand sanitizer available
• All sick players / coaches to stay away

Our DOC has given coaches some ideas on how to manage the 9 person group restrictions, space wise.

STAGE 3

IYSA is planning to tentatively resume competitive league games on Stage 3 (starting Sat, May 30th, or otherwise, Sat, June 6th). That is why it may be good players get some practices before game 1 and as long as all safety measures are followed, specially dividing in smaller groups.

Again, IYSA Guidelines for this 3rd stage are:

Larger practices and games may begin under the following advisory conditions.

• Limited spectators
• Space the spectators out as much as possible
• Times between games will be extended to allow teams to move out of the area before the next teams arrive
• No two adjacent fields to be used at the same time.
• Advise at-risk spectators to stay home
• Observe game from other vantage points where possible e.g. elevated positions such as hills or from vehicles where possible.
• No after game handshakes, but cheering of opponent is highly encouraged
• Sanitizer available where possible, medical staff onsite at larger facilities where possible

We will be asking coaches to be very understanding of players/families who are not comfortable/able to get back on the field on stage 2. Also, meeting safe carpooling conditions may be reasons why players cannot attend.

The full IYSA Return to Action 4 stages guidelines document already linked above can be accessed again here.

Note: All dates on the linked documents and on this post are estimated targets.

We will continue to update everybody as things progress.

Finally, our competitive tryouts info for June 29th and 30th can be accessed here.

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OLDER COVID-19 STATUS UPDATES:

April 1st update

In the link below, please find a new update from IYSA. Soccer activities are postponed until May 1st. Let’s keep being hopeful as we plan for our delayed spring season!

http://www.idahoyouthsoccer.org/covid19/

Meanwhile, players can access our home training videos in our YouTube Channel!

Most videos will be for U8-U19 players but we will send some stuff via email to our academy U4-U9 players as well.

Please subscribe (it is free) to get automatic notifications as new videos are released (weekly).

March 25th Update

Further suspension of play

In lieu of today’s stay at home announcement by Governor Little, IYSA (Idaho Youth Soccer Association, and hence our club Real SC, are suspending all activities until April 20^th which also coincide with the current school closures.

We will be sending videos with some activities for players to do at home! A communication via email will be send to all Real SC families on where to access them!

March 16th update

No soccer the week of March 16th, 2020. Also, we will have no practices during Spring break (the week of March 23rd).

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OTHER NOTES

• The status of practices and games for competitive program teams U9-U19 can be seen at this IYSA web site

We will also keep you updated via email and social media.

• For academy program teams U4-U9),we will be keeping you informed via email and social media.

Stay tuned and please keep safe. Let’s look after each other and our neighbours!