March 13, 2020 Virginia Beach City FC Statement
NORFOLK, Va (Mar. 13, 2020) —The health and safety of our staff, membership, players, and fans are of the highest priority during this unprecedented time. Developments on the COVID-19 outbreak are fast-moving.
Effective immediately, we are suspending soccer activities through Friday, March 20, 2020. We will continue to reevaluate the suspension of soccer activities on a weekly basis.
According to the CDC, there are reported cases in 43 jurisdictions across the U.S., and various local governments are taking a number of steps in response, including yesterday’s declaration of a “State of Emergency” in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) issued directives that all games are suspended through March 2020. The NPSL west coast conferences have already begun league play, while our Mid Atlantic conference is scheduled to kick off in May. We will continue to scenario plan around our upcoming 2020 NPSL season and events with more details to be shared in April.
Concerning our youth academy, Virginia Beach City FC is a member club of Virginia Youth Soccer Association (VYSA), the state governing body for youth soccer in Virginia. VYSA is a member of United States Youth Soccer (USYS), a national governing body for youth soccer state associations under the United States Soccer Federation (USSF).
USYS announced that it has suspended all USYS league programs and conference activities. Therefore, EDP league play for our academy teams has been suspended until further notice. USYS mentioned in the same release that state, local league, and member play, practices and event decisions should be made on a case by case scenario. We are working together with VYSA to evaluate the local conditions to determine appropriate next steps. We received communication by email that VYSA encourages their leagues and clubs to make decisions concerning the continuation of programming based on conditions within their local footprint.
Virginia Beach City FC staff will also be sending information by email to our youth membership regarding online digital learning opportunities from our club and training protocols moving forward based on discussions with VYSA.
Our internal team at Virginia Beach City FC has been conducting frequent calls, text, and emails daily reviewing everything from our internal staff protocols, safety, and healthy habits and conducting extra cleanings. Our communications protocols have been robust internally. Externally we are sharing as much information as we can and will continue to be transparent in this process moving forward.
As we have been, we will be following the protocols as laid out by the governing bodies for soccer and leagues for which we play – including the NPSL, EDP, and VSLI - and will continue to follow the direction of our local city officials.
We will provide additional information as we learn more about this evolving issue. We appreciate your understanding and continued support!
Please stay safe!
Best Regards,
Steven A. Wagoner
President | Virginia Beach City FC
Hampton Roads Soccer