NWSL owners to discuss options for rest of 2020
“The strong opinion is, we’ll be playing matches end of August, September and whenever we can, whether it’s NWSL-sanctioned matches or league play or a tournament format,” Washington Spirit Coach Richie Burke said Monday. “I’m not quite sure. Everybody I spoke to out in Utah, all the coaches and most of the staff, were like, ‘Let’s play, let’s do more.’
“As long as player safety is paramount, let’s go play. We’ve got young players who need match minutes. To get them better and ready for next year, they’ve got to play.”
The league did not respond to multiple requests for details about the board’s agenda.
Because of the pandemic, the NWSL seems to have lost hope of conducting a regular season this year. The semifinals of the month-long Challenge Cup in greater Salt Lake City — the first U.S. team sport to play during the coronavirus pandemic — will culminate this week with the semifinals Wednesday and the final Sunday.
If not for the health crisis, this year’s regular season would have run April 18-Oct. 18 and the championship game would’ve taken place Nov. 14 in Louisville, a 2021 expansion market.
Without any plans the rest of the year, NWSL teams would have to wait at least eight months until the 2021 season started.
A long layoff would be detrimental to not only the league, but to the U.S. national team, which relies on the NWSL to keep its players in top fitness and form much of the year. The league is also the primary breeding ground for new national team prospects.
Next year, the United States is slated to compete at the Tokyo Olympics, which was postponed this summer. The U.S. squad does not have any matches this summer or fall; scheduling such games has become difficult, if not impossible, because of international travel restrictions.
The U.S. team is tentatively planning a winter training camp in January and the annual SheBelieves Cup in February-March.
The Challenge Cup semifinals Wednesday will feature the eighth-seeded Portland Thorns against the No. 4 Houston Dash at 12:30 p.m. and the No. 6 Chicago Red Stars vs. No. 7 Sky Blue FC at 10 p.m. CBS All Access, a streaming pay service, will carry both games. The CBS national network will broadcast Sunday’s final at 12:30 p.m.
The second-seeded Washington Spirit, which lost to Sky Blue in a penalty kick tiebreaker Saturday, chartered home Sunday. Players will undergo another round of coronavirus testing Wednesday to ensure they are healthy after departing the NWSL bubble then take three weeks’ vacation.
Workouts will resume Aug. 10, Burke said.
Meanwhile, the NWSL will finally venture into California on Tuesday when Los Angeles is named as a 2022 expansion club, multiple people said. Former U.S. superstars Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach are involved in the effort. On Monday, both teased the announcement on Twitter.
