Good afternoon soccer clubs,
The Oklahoma Soccer Association continues to monitor the ongoing developments with the COVID-19 virus. We're beginning to hear some positive stories and statistics as everyone continues to do their best to help prevent the spread of the disease. We hope all our continuing efforts will soon result in progress in those struggling communities who need it most.
Sporting events may not be among our top priorities right now, but the emotions, community and pure joy that we get from sports will play a comforting role for so many of us when we're past today's challenges. Below are several area's that we will cover today:
League play
To follow the new updated Federal, Oklahoma, and US Youth Soccer guidelines on "stay at home" and social distancing through May 1, OSA will target the weekend of May 2 as the return to spring league play. Since all clubs & teams currently have schedules, games scheduled for May 2 through May 17 will stay as scheduled and the majority of postponed games will be added in. Please understand that this is a "targeted" start or plan and may need further adjustment based on COVID-19 developments.
High School soccer
Unfortnately , with Oklahoma schools closing and moving to an on-line format, high school soccer has been cancelled. Many of our 19U and 16U players did not sign up for spring soccer due to their participation in High School sports. OSA is looking at a plan to offer club soccer to these players to fill their missing spring soccer season. A survey will be forwarded later today to gauge interest and what age groups and clubs are interested in having teams.
State Tournaments
With hope and optimism, we look forward to a Celebration of Soccer when life begins to return to normal. All four state championship tournaments, State Gold Cup Championship, Presidents Silver & Bronze Cup Championships, Adult State Cup and the recreational Tournament of Champions will now be held in Late May/June and will be "unrestrictive" which is open to all US Soccer members. In moving these tournament dates later, this will allow our teams to be better prepared with a month of spring play. Check our web page at www.oksoccer.com for additional information on Monday.
May 29-31 at Edmond Soccer Complex
OPEN TO ALL US SOCCER MEMBERS
Presidents Silver & Bronze Cup Tournament
State Gold Cup Tournament
June 12, 13, 14 at Titan Sports, Tulsa
OPEN TO ALL US SOCCER MEMBERS
Tournament of Champions
Adult State Cup
We all know now more than ever the future is uncertain. Adjusting these dates and announcing them with as much notice as possible allow more time, once we return, for tactical and fitness training as well as planning time for those traveling to the events.
NCS and President's Cup Regional and National Tournaments
On April 1, USYS announced that the NCS and President's Cup Regional and National Tournaments will not be held this year due to the COVID-19 virus and disrupted spring season for Region III members. As unfortunate as it is to not have these prestigious events this year, USYS made this difficult decision based on the current financial challenges members are experiencing, travel, and a desire to maintain the quality and integrity of the competition.
Competitive Tryouts
May 1 is still the currently scheduled date for the start of club/team tryouts, players can tryout and sign with any club beginning with this date.
Clubs with paid staff
Financial assistance may be available to clubs with the recently enacted CARES Act. The CARES Act is focused on the Paycheck Protection Program. This is available through local banking institutions so contact your individual bank to apply. Applications are expected to be available through the banks Friday, April 3, and in the meanwhile, a sample of the application can be found in the link below so you can start gather documents to submit with your application. In very brief summary, under the PPP, employers can seek 2.5 times their monthly payroll to pay off salary, benefits, rent/mortgage, etc. Further, if employers retain the employees for an 8 week period after the loan, the loan can be 100% forgiven. Obviously, there are many more details so be sure to do some research but I wanted to give you some quick guidance on it, as I believe the PPP loan/grant could be very beneficial to several of our clubs.
https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2020-04/PPP Borrower Application Form.pdf
Financial Assistance
Additional financial assistance is the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program (EIDL). It has two components - a normal one and an emergency one that can provide $10,000 within three days. Most non-profits are eligible to apply for these loans and you can secure them for up to $2 million. Other than the $10,000 emergency payment which can be forgiven, the remainder is to be repaid, albeit at a low interest rate. Please investigate the EIDL as a possible resource to assist your club. Clubs can apply for both a PPP and an EIDL loan, but you cannot receive two loans for the same expenses such as payroll vs operating expenses, applying for one does not disqualify you for the other. More information is available with this link:
https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/trends-policy-issues/loans-available-nonprofits-the-cares-act-public-law-116-132
I am not a financial expert or an attorney and cannot provide advice on what may be best for your club, I did want to provide information based upon materials I have obtained from US Youth Soccer, CCK, our accounting firm and my own online research, as well as a webinar I attended today with our payroll company. Please consider these options for your soccer club and if I can be of assistance or answer your questions, give me a call.
We are continuing to evaluate options for our leagues and tournaments returning to play. We appreciate all of our members who are keeping us up to date on the status of your communities, clubs and facilities. OSA will continue to provide weekly information and updates to keep our members informed.
Please stay safe and healthy!
Sid Goodrich
OSA Executive Director