Hopefully, you and your families are safe, and doing well during these challenging times. The COVID virus has changed a great many things. The things we took for granted in our everyday life have been drastically changed. Unfortunately, youth sports have also felt the effects of COVID. For those of you that were involved in outdoor soccer this past season, you know that the State of California has not allowed the players to scrimmage or play games.  Those same guidelines apply to indoor soccer.  Sadly, it does not appear that the State of California guidelines are going to change anytime soon.

I’m sure you are all anxious to hear if there will be a Futsal league this winter season.  There will be a Marin Futsal Winter League; however, it is going to look a little different.  We will not be scheduling games throughout the season, but instead conducting a Marin Futsal Winter Academy Training with Professional FUTSAL Trainers. Registration will begin Saturday, November 7, 2020.

This is what the season will look like in the interest of adhering to the COVID safety guidelines set by the State of California.  We are dedicated to making sure our Futsal Family participants continue to develop their soccer skills in a safe indoor environment.  That means that the training would mirror what many of the soccer leagues have been doing this past Summer and Fall:

• Players must be socially distanced at all times (6 feet apart)
• A training cohort must remain together the entire season
• Players cannot scrimmage or play games
• Players must wear masks at all times when training indoors

So, basically, there will be two professional trainers who will train a cohort of players for 1 hour. They will work on skill development and participate in challenging skill-based games.

A PROVEN SUCCESSFUL SOCCER PROGRAM:

Having run the Corte Madera Soccer program this past season, I’ll admit I was concerned at how conducting a soccer training program would work without being able to scrimmage or play. However, after watching our trainers during the program, I was really encouraged that we could put on a quality program, even without the possibility of scrimmaging or playing a game. The children were challenged, they were developing their skills, and they were having fun. So, I’m confident that I can replicate that in a Winter Futsal program.

ALL YOUTH SPORTS:

Please keep in mind, the State and County guidelines apply to all youth sports! Unless the State and County decide to relax these guidelines, all youth sports must abide by them. No youth sport can scrimmage or play games, even though some leagues claim that they can. To insure the safety of all the players and trainers, Marin Futsal will follow all State and County guidelines at all times.  As we get close to the start of the season, we will be sending out to everyone who registers a detailed description of the safety precautions we will be taking and ask that you discuss them with your children.

REGISTRATION:

Registration for the Winter Marin Futsal Academy Training program will open on Saturday, November 7, 2020. You can register on our website at https://futsalmarin.com and click on Registration or register directly through https://futsalmarin.demosphere-secure.com. The Marin Futsal winter league is tentatively set to begin the weekend of January 23-24, 2021, and will run for 8 weeks, ending March 21, 2021. There will be no sessions on President’s Day Holiday weekend, February 13-14, 2021. In addition, a training cohort may be made up of an existing team, a group of friends, or a group of individuals.

POTENTIAL FUTURE CHANGES IN GUIDELINES:

It is important to note, if the State and County relaxes the guidelines, I will be flexible and organize scrimmages and games to augment the training program.  However, in the event the State and County guidelines become more restricted and training indoors becomes impossible, player fees will be reimbursed, excluding a small fee to cover unrecoverable processing and admin fees.

During these difficult times, everyone has to do what they feel is best for their families. Hopefully, a number of you will give our Marin Futsal Winter Academy Training program a try. Along with providing a challenging, skill developing, and fun program, I will do my best to keep your children safe.

Due to COVID, Space is Limited - REGISTER TODAY!

Cheers,

Frank Bonardi, Executive Director