With no soccer being played for the foreseeable future, the Chicago Red Stars are working on helping the community through a few initiatives.
The Red Stars plan on supporting the greater Chicago community in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The club’s front office released a statement on Sunday underlining the importance of the Chicago community to take care of one another as businesses and schools shut down to prevent spreading the virus across the state of Illinois.
The Red Stars will now pivot their resources and audience towards helping those in need in Chicago, creating the social media channel #CRShotline to offer an outlet for crowdsourcing support.
“We love sports,” the team’s statement read. “In fact, it’s usually all we think about. But for the foreseeable future sports don’t matter. The health of our citizens is paramount. With that in mind, we’ll be shifting our emphasis from being a leader on the pitch to being a leader in human connection and support. Moving forward, our channels will be dedicated to bringing people together and supporting Chicago and the broader community.”
The Red Stars are offering a variety of content on social media, including Coloring with the Chicago Red Stars, Madlib Monday, Daily Dose of Fitness, Bedtime Stories with Rory and Coaches Corner.
Tomorrow's programming is jam packed with fun for fans of all ages. Tune in! #MyKindOfContent pic.twitter.com/sGZWpXcaFp
— Chicago Stars FC (@theChicagoStars) March 16, 2020
The club put a pause on discussion of tickets and games for the immediate future, noting that all decisions will come from the league level. However, the Red Stars pledged to refund any tickets previously purchased for matches this season. Additionally, the club offered to provide immediate refunds to any fans in need of financial assistance.
The NWSL canceled all preseason matches and suspended training through March 22 in the league’s early efforts to combat the spread of coronavirus. However, a guideline released by the CDC on Sunday suggested all large gatherings — specifically naming sporting events — should be canceled or postponed for the next eight weeks.
If the NWSL continues to follow CDC guidelines, the start of the 2020 season would need to be pushed back by at least three weeks.