Minor league soccer returns to Calgary after pandemic layoff
Minor league soccer is starting again in Calgary today, with enhanced health and safety measures. The Calgary Minor Soccer Association’s 530 teams have not played a game in over 15 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The regular outdoor season will run from June 15 to July 29. Teams for children ages nine and older will have the option of participating in a fall season beginning Aug. 28. For younger children, there will be a biweekly program that focuses on fun and skills building.
As a part of the league’s COVID-19 health and safety efforts, “physical distancing will be required when participants are not actively on the field of play,” said Jennifer Rowett, the Calgary Minor Soccer Association's league coordintor. A post-game hand shake between the two competing teams will also be replaced by a socially distanced walk by.
During practices, coaches may briefly break the two metre distance to correct or teach a skill, but must be wearing a mask to do so. If they are maintaining two metres from the athletes, coaches do not need to wear a mask.
Spectators must be three metres from the players and coaches, while also staying two metres from those in different households. Off the field, “masks will be required when two metres distancing cannot be maintained,” Rowett added.
This season, the league has focused on keeping games within the teams’ respective communities to minimize COVID-19 spread. The under 10 and under 12 teams will only play once every seven days. The league “has taken this downtime to restructure our league and bring soccer closer to families while working to reduce accessibility barriers to our sport," said Jordan Stewart, r the Calgary Minor Soccer Association technical leader.
The schedule for games beginning today until the end of the month are posted on the Calgary Minor Soccer website.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.