The NWSL is tentatively planning a resume individual or small group workouts at the conclusion of the league’s training moratorium, which is set to expire on May 16.
And the league has a broader goal of restarting team-wide training by June 1, according to a report by the Washington Post.
An Orlando Pride official said the club plans to resume when the training moratorium expires. However, this could mean a variety of options — anything from one-on-one training at the team facilities to small group or full team sessions. It also would not require all players to have returned to Orlando.
The club and the league officials have said their plans depend on the guidance they receive from health experts and state officials.
“I don’t think anyone knows what this is going to look like,” Brooke Elby, co-executive director of the NWSL Players Association, said in an interview with the Washington Post. “We can have aspirations, but we won’t know until we get there. We can’t speculate because it could change in the next hour or in the next day.”
Bringing players in for training is easier for some NWSL teams than others. For the Pride, almost half of the midfield — Australians Emily van Egmond and Alanna Kennedy, Scottish winger Claire Emslie and new addition Jade Moore — is out of the country. Their path back to Orlando will differ from other teammates like defender Emily Sonnett, who spent quarantine in her hometown in Georgia, a one-day drive away from Central Florida.
Pride players have already been able to work out in pairs or small groups throughout the quarantine process. Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris are quarantined together, as well as Marta and Toni Pressley and rookies Courtney Petersen, Konya Plummer and Taylor Kornieck.
Shelina Zadorsky and Ali Riley were together before the quarantine began, allowing them to safely maintain contact throughout the period. The pair have worked out together most days of the training moratorium, recently purchasing an inflatable kayak to add variety to their workouts.
Cross training. @Shelina4 🚣🏼♀️🚣🏽♀️ pic.twitter.com/aMREB2SLtb
— Ali Riley (@RileyThree) April 15, 2020
Players have also used social distancing measures while meeting up at parks, which remain open throughout the Orlando area.
This week, Riley met up with Pressley and Marta to work on passing drills that would allow them to remain six feet apart from one another.
Social distancing, TikToking, and training with the GOAT all at the same time. 📹: @Toni_Deion pic.twitter.com/EIUaUf2ggL
— Ali Riley (@RileyThree) April 29, 2020
Professional leagues around the U.S. and the world have used different approaches for resuming training. The NBA plans to allow players to restart voluntary workouts on May 8, as long as only four players share a court at the same time and maintain a 12-foot distance.
In Germany, the Bundesliga has allowed small group training as the league gears up for a late May restart of its men’s seasons. But in the U.S., MLS has yet to announce a formal training plan to use after its moratorium expires on May 15.
NWSL is still working through plans for a restart. Elby told the Washington Post players won’t receive preference for COVID-19 testing, which could limit their ability to return to full-team training.
The newspaper reported the league has considered a scenario during which all nine teams used multiple venues in the Washington D.C. area for the first matches of the season.