In small groups, Sporting KC takes another step back toward MLS competition next week
Sporting Kansas City will be one step closer to returning to action next week as Major League Soccer allows its clubs to hold “voluntary small-group training” sessions.
Pending league approval on safety protocols amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Sporting KC expects to begin small-group training Monday at its Compass Minerals National Performance Center.
It’s the next step in a slow, league-wide process toward returning to MLS competition. Sporting KC players have been taking part in voluntary individual workouts at the complex since May 6, but the team hasn’t played an MLS match since a 4-0 home victory over the Houston Dynamo on March 7.
“We’re more than ready for this announcement. If anything, we’ve been waiting too long for it,” Sporting KC captain Matt Besler told The Star. “We all want to get back to playing games and competing. Yes, we still have to be cautious, but we can’t be afraid to push things forward in a smart way.”
Social-distancing measures, for instance, will remain in place. During individual workouts, only four players have been permitted on a field at any one time, and each had to remain in his own assigned quadrant of the field; on top of that, no equipment, including soccer balls, could be transferred between players. Collectively, these measures have been intended to allow players a safe environment in which to work out.
The league’s small-group training guidelines will still mandate that players remain in designated zones separated by at least 10 feet. But up to six players will be allowed to take part in a given group-training session, and balls will be able to move from player to player.
Each field will be split into two halves, with groups of six players allowed to occupy each half, or one field can be used by a maximum of six players.
“There’s only so much you can do as an individual. Soccer is a team game and that requires being able to interact and play with teammates,” Besler said. “Small training is another step forward in the right direction. It will allow us to start getting out timing back with each other in terms of passing and other movements.”
Players will also be allowed to switch zones during training sessions but are only allowed to do so if they’re moving into an empty zone and remaining more than 10 feet away from other players and coaches.
Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes has been at the forefront of guiding MLS teams back to a sense of normalcy, participating in discussions with league and other club officials on how to conduct small-group training and, eventually, full-team training.
But there’s one stipulation in MLS’s guidelines that Vermes may disagree with.
According to the guidance issued to clubs, players cannot interact with players outside of their group for the duration of practice. But clubs are permitted to rearrange the groups between sessions, meaning within the course of just a week a player could wind up playing with nearly every other player on the team.
“That’s why the groups, there’s only a certain number that we’ll have, so that when you have all those players together, you then know if somebody in that group tests positive,” Vermes said in an interview two weeks ago. “Then you know that group is the one group that will be together the whole time and we’re not going to be able to switch the guys up every day.”
Clubs are expected to continue observing current health and safety protocols — the sanitation and disinfection of all equipment between sessions, for instance, as well as staggered arrivals for players and completion of a standard screening questionnaire for anyone coming to the facility.
This story was originally published May 28, 2020 at 3:48 PM with the headline "In small groups, Sporting KC takes another step back toward MLS competition next week."