Another week has passed! We’ve got quite a few new league-centric topics to discuss today, including the launch of the USL Academy League, a return to small-group training, and probably other stuff that I haven’t drafted a heading for yet. VAMANOS!

USL clubs take steps to return to training

The league issued a press release on Wednesday relating to a return to training for its member clubs in the Championship and League 1. League 2 is shuttered for 2020.

Operating under the guidance of local and state health authorities, the United Soccer League today announced a modification to the previously announced training moratorium that will allow Championship and League One clubs, at their option, to open outdoor fields for non-contact training in small groups as well as training rooms for player treatment.

Small group settings will be limited to up to four players, with no more than one athletic trainer and one member of a club’s technical staff allowed on each field during a session. Teams in areas where local and state recommendations for stay-at-home orders have not been lifted should not train or allow treatment that is prohibited by their jurisdiction.

USLsoccer.com Staff press release, 5.6.20

It’s good, and, of course, responsible, for the USL to try and resume operations under state and local health guidance. Better to restrict those clubs that are in areas “where local and state recommendations for stay at home orders have not been lifted.” However, lots of questions about even this level of group training exist.

Who’s making sure COVID-19 related health guidelines are being followed? Do the players have options to decline to participate? There’s no requirement of any testing or health professional oversight or participation in the USL’s plan at all. I know if I was a player who lived with my young family, or took care of an older relative, I’d think long and hard about whether it was worth it to go back to work if that meant bringing home the virus without even knowing it.

Germany and South Korea are getting back to playing actual games this month, and that’s great, but those are two places that did a better job of containing the spread of COVID-19 to their populations by orders of magnitude than the US has done. The American response is a lot more like England’s, for better or worse, where club doctors and players all have voiced serious concerns about getting back to training.

It all seems fairly risky. USL club owners have all stated that they can’t really function as businesses without game day revenue. Even the states that are trying to reopen businesses haven’t said when they think it will be safe for live spectator sports to come back.

I suppose if the clubs can get back to training safely, that’s good. But if they can’t play any games, the question becomes: what’s the point?

USL launches Academy League

The other big Wednesday USL news drop was the announcement that its Academy League would launch in the spring of next year:

Comprised exclusively of clubs from across the USL’s network of 129 Championship, League One and League Two teams, the inaugural Academy League preseason is set to kick off in February 2021 – including a period of full integration with a club’s First Team – followed by a regular season that will align with the USL Championship and USL League One seasons spanning from March to November. The league will then conclude with the USL Academy League Playoffs, as well as the first-ever Academy League Final.

Unique to any other pre-professional set-up in the United States, USL Academy League teams will field a single elite youth team, geared towards top local players within the U15 to U19 age range, and built with a direct connection to the club’s First Team.

USLsoccer.com Staff press release, 5.6.20

Neat, right? I think the best way to think about the Academy League is that it’s kind of like a Champions League except there’s no real qualification process. The member clubs are likely all participating in other youth leagues, whether that’s a state or USYS regional or national league or something like the ECNL or MLS’s TBD youth boys league. Also each club only fields one team in the competition.

I think this is an interesting model, and am pretty keen to see it launch whenever things get to the point that it’s safe. Keep your eyes peeled.

USL Expansion news

Quick hitter here: USL president Jake Edwards did an interview midweek where he divulged that the former Fresno FC would relocate to Monterey, California and return to the Championship in 2021. There are also “up to” five new League 1 teams that will start in ’21 or ’22, and several others are in the works, too. Good stuff for the league.

Have a great weekend, y’all, and VAMOS MORADOS!