National Women’s Soccer League to delay start of 2020 season indefinitely

Royals FC owner Dell Loy Hansen, listens as new Royals FC head coach Craig Harrington talks at a press conference at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy on Friday, Feb. 7, 2020. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — Given that the National Women’s Soccer League season wasn’t set to begin until April 18, there was hope last week it could get started on schedule even in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, although all preseason matches were canceled last Thursday.

Since canceling the preseason, the league has slowly been inching toward following many organizations in suspending play. Last Friday, the league banned teams from training for two days, and then when that time period was up the ban was extended through this coming Sunday, March 22.

Finally on Friday, the league announced that in conjunction with banning training through April 5, the start of the season will be delayed indefinitely.

“We are considering all possible implications for the preseason and regular season schedules while prioritizing the health and safety of our players, staff and fans,” the announcement read.

After Utah Royals FC started preseason training last Monday minus a number of players because of international duty, a few of them arrived in Salt Lake City only to have the club go into self-quarantine mode late last week.

Whenever the season ends up starting, URFC will be in its first season under new head coach Craig Harrington. URFC has missed the playoffs in each of its first two seasons in existence but is planning on shifting toward more of a youth movement this season.

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