Murphys, CA…The Ebbetts Pass Youth Soccer League Board of Directors hopes everyone in the greater Ebbetts Pass community continues to remain safe and healthy as the magnitude of the coronavirus appears to be expanding both locally as well as nationally.  The Board of Directors continues to monitor guidelines from federal, state and local health authorities as it works to develop a plan to return to play for fall soccer.   Our primary focus is and will remain the health and safety of players, families and coaches and decisions to return to play, which includes conditioning, team training and eventually competition, will be based on public state and county health guidance.

At this time, guidance from both state and county health agencies is that team sports are not permitted to return to play.  As affiliates of both Nor Cal Premier and Cal North, there is growing consensus that, for the purposes of planning, the soonest health guidance may permit return to play is September 1 with first competitions likely no sooner than September 12.  It is also largely shared that competition will most likely be local in nature for all age groups as issues surrounding field use at other facilities remains an issue as do concerns around virus transmission with travel to other cities and counties.  However, dates in September are merely target dates and training and competition formats and dates will continue to require flexibility and remain subject to change.

Also, for those interested in fall school sports, please see the update from ALL the superintendents of local schools indicating that schools and districts, including the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), are closely monitoring guidance from the California Department of Public Health which has not yet released schools to return to play at this time.

US Soccer recently released its “Play On” initiative which will serve as as the set of guidelines and best practices EPYSL will follow once local health authorities have deemed it safe to return to play.   As you will read, this will be a phased approach which will initially limit the number of players allowed to train together to (9) with one coach, with subsequent phases permitting for full team training and eventually a return to competition (games).

For questions, please contact any Board member through the link below: