The organisers of the MTC HopSol Soccer Youth League say plans to restart the 2020 Junior Leagues are at an advanced stage, with the weekend of 31 July set as the date for the resumption of the matches.

Speaking to Nampa, Collin Benjamin, the founder of the youth league said plans are at an advanced stage for the resumption of the games, with fixtures already drafted and sent to the participating teams.

“We will follow all the guidelines as set out by the Namibia Sports Commission and all relevant authorities. We will do the register and temperature at the stadium gates, we also asked coaches and teachers to monitor the boys and girls for any Covid-19 symptoms and to alert us if they suspect anything,” Benjamin said.

He added that they will avoid having more than 250 people at venues by making sure that teams who are done playing go home instead of hanging around the venues.

The former Brave Warriors captain and assistant coach said they also sent out a standard indemnity form to all parents to sign and so far over half of the parents have signed the forms and returned them. He added that they will make sanitisers available in the locker rooms and disinfect them regularly to minimise the possibility of spreading the virus.

“We still have 10 days before we kick off so by then, we are confident that all the forms will be with us. This indemnity form is similar to what parents sign at schools, gyms and other places. We are just saying we will do our utmost best to protect the participants,” Benjamin explained.

He said they expect obvious challenges which are to be expected at events like the tournament, especially the social distancing by spectators and players at the venue.

“The kids come from different houses, some will show symptoms, while others are asymptomatic, so it may be difficult to identify children with the virus. We, therefore, count on coaches and parents to strictly monitor the kids and adhere to the regulations,” he emphasised.

Benjamin further said they are still going ahead with their selection team camp scheduled for 11 to 13 September for the Under-13, U-15 and U-17 players. Selected coaches will be at the various pitches during the league games to scout for players that will form part of the selection team camp.

These selected players were supposed to play at tournaments in South Africa before Covid-19 struck, but that has been set aside due to current travel restrictions. The HopSol Youth League recently got a sponsorship worth N$500 000 a year from MTC for the next three years. – Nampa