I’m writing today for two reasons. One, so I could use that header photo of Justin Timberlake for like the third year in a row. And two, because it’s been about a week and BEHOLD! There’s some actual pressing news to discuss!

The USL issued a news release yesterday afternoon announcing that their previous training moratorium for clubs in League 1 and the Championship was being extended. However, there appears to finally be some light at the end of the tunnel:

Both leagues have also extended their respective team training moratoriums through May 15. However, USL is also exploring scenarios that would allow for players to return to training facilities to conduct individual or small group work prior to May 15. Any re-opening of club facilities will be done in accordance with local and state guidelines, and with all involved adhering to strict social distancing protocols.

Obviously, the USL is just as interested as anyone else in getting back to business, but the whole “local and state guidelines” thing is going to make that tricky since there are dozens of them to deal with. In Kentucky, for example, Governor Beshear has indicated that gatherings of up to ten people might be a good idea by May 25, but that probably isn’t going to be the same as what’s allowed in California or New York or other places that have been hit harder by COVID-19. So how all this rolls out is still very much up in the air. The good news is, the USL knows that:

As things stand today, the USL is still in a position to reschedule all matches in both leagues affected by the COVID-19 crisis to date […] While a complete season remains the preferred outcome of any return to play scenario, a variety of alternative competitive formats in both the Championship and League One are also being explored as the USL continues to prioritize the health and wellness of everyone involved.

So that sounds pretty positive. Less positive, unfortunately, is that the League Two season has been totally cancelled. Of course, that makes perfect sense. If league play couldn’t even begin before, let’s say, July in some places, there would only be a window of maybe three or four weeks before some League Two teams would start losing most or all of their players back to their college teams.

Then again, whether there are even going to be fall NCAA or college sports at all is still up in the air. That’s not something that the USL has any control over, of course.

Either way, losing an entire League Two season is a bummer, especially for those that were set to play for the Louisville City inaugural U23 team. Like everyone else, COVID-19 will have taken away some important opportunities from those kids, and that’s truly unfortunate.

In more fun news, the USL continues to embrace e-sports and is moving on from Rocket League to an EA Sports FIFA 20 tournament starting on May 4 streaming live on Twitch.tv:

The USL announced on Thursday its second esports competition, with the USL eCup: FIFA20 Edition set to feature 32 clubs from across the USL Championship and USL League One compete on the virtual field in a six-week tournament that will feature weekly brackets across three divisions and promotion and relegation at the end of each week.

[…]

he 32 clubs from the Championship and League One will each be randomly assigned a premier international squad to compete with throughout the tournament. They will then initially square off in Week 1, beginning on May 4, to earn the right to be placed in Division A, Division B or Division C, with an elimination bracket giving every team a chance to secure their place in the top division.

So it’ll kind of be USL soccer! Sort of! And that’s better than nothing. This, plus players maybe returning to training in the next 15-30 days gives us (and more importantly, them) something to look forward to! And that’s a great way to kick off Derby weekend.

Vamos Morados, y’all.