COVID-19

As a reminder, our organization is first and foremost committed to the health and safety of our members, staff, and community and we will follow all mandated directions from our governing organizations and government public health departments, recognizing that stricter government public health department directions supersede directions from our governing organizations.    
 

Recently, US Soccer, US Club Soccer, NorCal Premier Soccer, Elite Club’s National League, and the State of California, all issued new guidance and directions related to COVID-19.
 

First, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued revised public gathering guidelines that shall remain in effect through March 31, 2020.  Specifically, CDPH has found the following:

   ·  Large gatherings that include 250 people or more should be postponed or canceled.  This includes gatherings such as concerts, conferences, and professional, college, and school sporting events.

   ·  Smaller gatherings held in venues that do not allow social distancing of six feet per person should be postponed or canceled.  This includes gatherings in crowded auditoriums, rooms or other venues.

   ·  Gatherings of individuals who are at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19 should be limited to no more than 10 people.  This includes gatherings such as those at retirement facilities, assisted living facilities, developmental homes, and support groups for people with health conditions.

   ·  A “gathering” is any event or convening that brings together people in a single room or single space at the same time, such as an auditorium, stadium, arena, large conference room, meeting hall, cafeteria, or any other indoor or outdoor space.

This applies to all non-essential professional, social, and community gatherings regardless of their sponsor. Gatherings that do not meet the aforementioned criteria should only be conducted when they are essential—that is, if the activity is essential and could not be postponed or achieved without gathering, meaning that some other means of communication could not be used to conduct the essential function.
 

Second, on the heels of the CDPH guidance, NorCal Premier Soccer sent out a memorandum to member organizations suspending all club-hosted games, NorCal-hosted games, Playdates, PDP, Coach Education events, US Soccer License courses, Referee Education events, and club meetings through March 31, 2020.  In addition, Elite Clubs National League sent out a notice to member organizations suspending all ECNL sanctioned activities through April 30, 2020, and US Club Soccer sent out a similar notice regarding their suspensions and recommending members follow the directives of their local and state health officials.
 

Given the directions above from both the State of California and our governing organizations, effective immediately our organization will be suspending all activities, including but not limited to league games, scrimmages, tournaments, and training sessions, through March 31, 2020.  While the guidance of our governing organizations did not apply to our ability to continue to hold training sessions, the decision to include the cancelation of training sessions is being made in order to best protect our members, community, and most importantly the population groups in California who are most at risk to COVID-19 (e.g. the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions and/or compromised immune systems).   
 

We know that some of you may have additional questions, especially for those of you who were scheduled to travel to tournaments.  Please know we are working on getting answers to flight and hotel cancelation questions.  At this time, we are asking you to hold off on sending us those direct questions until we send out additional information on this topic.
 

Please know that we will continue to remain in close contact with our governing organizations and our local public health departments and we will be reassessing this stance towards the end of March.  Should anything change before then, we will relay those updates as they become available. 
 

Thank you for your attention to this matter and for your support!
 

San Juan South Soccer Club
 

You can stay updated on the latest COVID-19 information by visiting the California Department of Public Health website here or the Center for Disease Control and Prevention website here.