The National Women’s Soccer League could become the first American team sport to return to the field after its nine owners reportedly approved on Tuesday a plan for a tournament in late June to be held in Utah.
Some teams are already holding individual workouts in their home states, but according to a report from Steven Goff of the Washington Post, there is an urgency on the part of the league to get teams from harder-hit regions such as the tristate area and Chicagoland into Utah, where the epidemic level has mostly been kept in check, with fewer than 100 deaths. Like other leagues, the NWSL according to Goff would keep players and staff in a contained, bubble-like area to mitigate the risks of them contracting the virus.
Under the plan agreed upon by owners (but not yet fully supported by the league’s biggest stars), team workouts in Utah would begin soon and a tournament would take place June 27-28. Teams would likely be split into three groups, then move into an eight-team knockout stage.
Sandy and Herriman, neighboring suburbs of Salt Lake City, are the two most likely homes for such a tournament, Goff reports, with no fans in the stands and CBS Sports airing games.
Women’s sports figure to be among the hardest hit by the pandemic, and the crisis has already begun to take a toll within college athletic departments. If the NWSL can take over a weekend in late June before any other American team sports have returned, it could be a big opportunity to take over the spotlight and remind fans of the incredible athletes who won the 2019 World Cup, many of whom play in the NWSL and struggle to gain the acclaim they receive during international competition while they are playing in the domestic league.
The NWSL had not begun its season when sports shut down in March. If this tournament goes forward as proposed and the NWSL pulls it off safely, they could start their a version of their regular season later in the summer.
