To our Empire United Soccer Academy Families

While our world has been changed so significantly in the past few months, we are pleased to begin the process of re-opening our Soccer Operations. In order to do that we are required to have in place a Return To Play plan that is compliant with all NYS Health and Safety regulations relating to COVID-19.

We as a club have developed a comprehensive Return To Play Protocol that will allow us to begin to slowly return to the pitch. It is attached for your use and review. Please 

know that we take the health and welfare of your children, your families and our coaches as our top priority and it is for that reason that we have utilized a 5 Phase resumption plan that has strict requirements that will be enforced. The plan has been developed by consulting a variety of sources including the CDC, NYS, Monroe and Erie County Health Departments, the Aspen Institute, and our governing soccer bodies and includes a Hold Harmless Document as provided by NYSWSA.

We understand that the choice of having your child return to the field is a personal one, and it is one that you will need to make each time you drop your player off for a practice or consider traveling to a game or event. With that in mind we have developed our plan with Social Distancing, the wearing of masks by staff, hand sanitization and limited crowd congregation as its foundation. We know that this will, in the short-term change some of your normal family spectator experiences, and we trust that you will see the value in those protective measures.

All of us, Club, Coach, Player and Parent have a role in this plan. We ask you to review it, understand it and ensure that you comply with what we need to be done in order to return to our new normal. We also ask for your patience as we are sure things will change over the coming weeks and months. We will communicate any changes as soon as they occur.

Kind Regards,
Rick Lill
Executive Director
Empire United Soccer Academy

Dear Empire United Soccer Academy families,

As we've rolled out our Return To Play Protocol and are into Phase 3 of training as of July 15th we felt it important to re-enforce a few key concepts.

• Our coaching staff is following a clear set of external mandates and internal guidelines to protect your children and families, all set within the boundaries of NYS Return Policies. The plans that have been developed are focused on safety and health
• As we transition to Phase 3 which includes player contact, you will see a measured approach that manages density and duration. We believe this to be an important control as we continue to monitor any changes in the Positivity Rate in Monroe, Erie, Onondaga and the surrounding counties
• Knowing that we are now in the middle of summer after a challenging spring (to say the least) and group gatherings are on the rise, we ask that you be extra diligent in ensuring that if you and your children have been engaged in large group events where social distancing was not maintained, that you not have your child participate in training events for a 14 day period

• Lastly, we wanted to remind you of an additional item of compliance that needs to be adhered to. Specifically, as some of us have begun to travel/vacation outside of NY, it is important to be aware of the NYS Restrictions/Directive on travel to certain states. The current directive has the following identified as High-Risk states - CLICK HERE FOR AN UP TO DATE LIST OF STATES LISTED AS HIGH-RISK

If you have traveled to any of these states the following directive applies as stated on the NYS Covid 19 Website:

• If you have traveled from within one of the designated states with significant community spread, you must quarantine when you enter New York for 14 days from the last travel within such designated state, provided on the date you enter into New York State that such state met the criteria for requiring such quarantine.
• The requirements of the travel advisory do not apply to any individual passing through designated states for a limited duration (i.e., less than 24 hours) through the course of travel.
• Examples of such brief passage include but are not limited to: stopping at rest stops for vehicles, buses, and/or trains; or lay-overs for air travel, bus travel, or train travel.
• The travel advisory requires all New Yorkers, as well as those visiting from out of state, to take personal responsibility for complying with the advisory in the best interest of public health and safety.

This direction is based upon a seven-day rolling average, of positive tests in excess of 10% in those states. As a point of reference, the 7-day rolling average in Monroe County is approximately 2%, in Erie county it is 2.3%, and in Onondaga County 1%

Please ensure that you are complying with this direction for the health and safety for all those around us.

Kind Regards,

Rick Lill
Executive Director
Empire United Soccer Academy