MLS players can begin to train individually starting next week

Major League Soccer announced on Friday players could begin to train individually at team facilities beginning May 6.

The specifics are extremely conditional, however. Player workouts must be done individually, they are voluntary, and players may only train on outdoor training fields. They are also to be planned out in advance, with the express permission of the club and local health authorities, with enhanced hygiene measures put into effect. The training sessions cannot conflict with local public health mandates, either, and this is where it becomes rather confusing. For example, LA County is under a “stay at home” order with only essential businesses open, and a soccer training field would seem to contradict that, but there’s no definitive word at this point from the club on that count.

Meanwhile, players will have to undergo health screenings of some kind prior to training sessions, and players won’t be able to go into their training facilities at all, even to use the restroom. Only players rehabbing from surgeries and injuries who were already approved to come inside the training facility may continue to do so.

The point of all of this is to first get players back into training as a first step towards reopening after the coronavirus pandemic shut everything down and to give them an opportunity to do more soccer-specific training, since many players have been unable to do regular ballwork on a field during the shutdown.

So, if Los Angeles Football Club players are allowed, they could begin training individually at the facility as early as Wednesday. From there, we can see when they would be able to mingle in groups and eventually an entire squad. And then they would need to get back to fitness before games could resume. Hopefully it’s a linear process, but we won’t know until we’ve gone through it.

We’ll keep you posted on updates as we learn them.

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