ROLLING HILLS ESTATES, Calif. — Young kids in the Palos Verdes American Youth Soccer Organization still came out for picture day, despite their fall season getting postponed because of the new COVID-19 testing requirements by Los Angeles County Public Health.
Regional Commissioner Wendy Murdoch said they had no choice with the season right around the corner.
What You Need To Know
- Los Angeles County Public Health initially called for a 48-hour testing requirement, which was changed to 72
- Players and staff must be tested within 72 hours of any inter-team competition, and results must be available before the competition begins, according to the county
- Soccer is considered "high-risk" by the county when it comes to the degree of participant contact
- The testing requirement goes into effect Sept. 1
"Just the logistics of it; we can't do it as how it's written right now," Murdoch said. "And you know kids need to be outside playing any sport, not just soccer, but they need to be active. They've had a year and a half of basically no activities."
Starting Sept. 1, all players and staff in LA County youth sports leagues will need to be tested 72 hours before a game.
For the Palos Verdes organization, that's about 1,500 kids and more than 300 staff members. Not only are they concerned about the logistics, but regional commissioner Larry Manth noted that it's also a big financial burden.
"Who's going to pay for this? It's 80, 90, 100 bucks a test at some places," Manth said. "So now you've increased the cost of a season exponentially because of the testing requirements."
Over at the national AYSO headquarters in Torrance, Yvonne Lara — director of marketing and communications — said they understand that regional programs are frustrated and overwhelmed, but they're focused on solutions to keep the season alive.
"COVID is still here, so just trying to figure out and maneuver around that and really provide the best safe environment possible for all of our families and our volunteers to participate in," Lara said.
AYSO continues to track the county's rules as they evolve and is confident its programs can move forward with the new requirements. It is working on providing resources to support each region, knowing how important it is for every kid to play.
"We definitely need soccer," Lara said. "We need kids to be playing because it's for their mental health and their physical health, as well as their socialization. It's vitally important they are there with each other."
The Palos Verdes organization hopes the county will downgrade testing to be "recommended" instead of "mandated." If that were to be the case, the season could start sooner rather than later.
"I think it's a family choice at this point because the interaction and the amount of contact that they have is a lot less than sitting right next to each other in school all day long," Murdoch said.