Amateur soccer taking a kicking from COVID-19

The beautiful game is facing an ugly reality this summer: the prospect that the season could get the boot thanks to COVID-19.

Ontario Soccer has said there will be no "in-person activity" until after June 30. Leagues are offering virtual drills in the meantime, but registration is way down amid all the uncertainty.

CBC Ottawa reached out to three local leagues after a fourth, the Glengarry Soccer League, announced May 24 on Facebook it was cancelling its summer season for minors.

Ottawa City Soccer Club

"Are we hopeful soccer still going to happen? Yes, we are hopeful. Realistically? Very unlikely. Or potentially [it will] only … be small-sided group activities later in the summer," said Kim Gamble, the general manager of the Ottawa City Soccer Club, which represents 3,000 players ages four to 79. 

The club has received field permits for July, but "our number one priority is the safety of our families and our players," said Gamble.

The uncertainty is dogging Ottawa City Soccer, which started accepting registrations in January, long before COVID-19 caused a shutdown. 

"People are still registering, but … we aren't charging anyone. We just want people in the system [so that] if there is potentially soccer, then we can be able to move ahead," Gamble said.

Some families who paid earlier are asking for a refund. "We will refund them if there is no soccer, but at this point we've kept things in a holding pattern," Gamble said. "We've had some of our members actually donate some of the registration fees, whether we have soccer or not."

The league has also tapped into government programs to help pay its five staff members. None has been laid off. "We've been very fiscally responsible over the years so we do have some [savings] that will help us through," Gamble said.

Gloucester Dragons Soccer

"I'm still very hopeful and somewhat optimistic," said Bill Coleman, chair of Gloucester Dragons Soccer, a youth recreational soccer league for players ages four to 18.

"We've got plans to try to start soccer the week of July 6," he said. "We're not going to have June, but we're hoping to have July and August."

The Gloucester Dragons have been working on contingency plans for several months. "So we've had our plan Bs and plan Cs in place for a bit," Coleman said. 

He's not surprised the Glengarry Soccer League called its season off, at least for its minor players, especially if  — like the Gloucester Dragons — it's experiencing a critical drop in registration due to COVID-19.

"We were tracking to have more registrations this season than we did last. But as soon as COVID hit we saw all registration stop."

Coleman said the Dragons have about 700 kids registered, only half of its goal of 1,400. "People are still reluctant."

This, despite inducements. "We were offering full refunds if we don't have a season. We also reduced our registration rate. We're cutting it in half this year just to try to encourage as many people to play as possible," Coleman said.

The uncertainty is forcing the league to come up with contingency plans for wildly different scenarios.

"If on June 11 the city … says we're playing soccer in July, we are anticipating a whole slew of registrations," Coleman said. "We [also] have to plan for having a half-season with fewer players and fewer teams. And then a third plan is for no season."

Ottawa Internationals Soccer Club

The Ottawa Internationals Soccer Club is anxiously awaiting a "return to play protocol" from Ontario Soccer. 

"We're not going to have a knee-jerk reaction to either get on the field or stay off the field," said general manager Graeme Bali. "We're still in a holding pattern."

But it's costing them.

"All soccer clubs — all amateur sports — live paycheque to paycheque. And the paycheque is obviously our spring enrolment," said Bali, noting fees for winter programs account for only 10 to 20 per cent of the club's budget.

But with the intensity of a competitive league comes added expenses, including two turf fields at local high schools, costs that are amortized over decades. 

"We upgraded to LED lighting to save on costs, but we also had to finance that," Bali said. "And then COVID hits, and we don't have that paycheque." 

Trainers have been furloughed. Coaches haven't been hired for the summer. (Typically, the league would have 40-50 coaches who receive an honorarium.) But there's still rent to be paid, and payroll for a handful of permanent staff.

Bali tried to negotiate better terms where he could. "We've had no insurance provider — and we have several — that's been able to give us any relief whatsoever. Not a cent."

Meanwhile, even this elite league is struggling to attract interest, with only about half the anticipated registration. The executive is working on a refund policy, Bali said, and is considering making a plea to families: "Are you able to leave a certain amount of money within the club to continue to deal with cash flow issues?"

Like the other two leagues, the Internationals are offering virtual skills and drills, "but monitoring that is virtually impossible," said Bali, who worries screen-bound athletes will struggle to ramp up when soccer finally resumes. 

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Another headache is that people are crashing the league's turf pitches. "Every time I go out there and have to kick a kid off the field I feel this huge tinge of guilt, like I'm doing something wrong even though I know I'm not," Bali said. "I'm a 52-year supporter of [legendary English soccer club] Liverpool. I don't take this stuff lightly."