MARQUETTE---The Coronavirus pandemic presents several unique challenges for youth sports at all levels as they scramble to follow ever-changing safety guidelines. This has led to mixed results for many organizations, but the Superiorland Soccer Association’s Marquette United teams recently finished their season without a single case of COVID-19. 

“It’s not possible to control things outside of our organization, but from the very first minute of our training sessions and warmups, we try to manage it as best we can.” says Director of Coaches Sasa Kostic.

Much of that protocol includes wearing facemasks and sanitizing equipment, but the system structure and logistics might have to change a little as practice moves indoors for the winter, but Kostic is confident that he and his coaching staff can continue developing creative ways to promote safe competition and understanding of the game.

It’s unclear what turns the Covid-19 Pandemic will take, but we could see the Marquette United system become the template for other clubs looking to remain competitive in a socially-distanced future.

Sasa and the rest of the coaching staff have taken safety a step further by actually changing the game of soccer itself to be more socially distant.

“Our mindset was to look at this as an opportunity to cover important knowledge and skills we usually we can’t spend as much time on during the regular season.” added Kostic.

The redesigned game breaks the field up into 6ft squares, and players are not allowed to enter the same square as another. Think of it kind of as human fooseball; the grid format ensures safe social distancing, but still allows for competition—just with a greater emphasis on positioning, passing, and intercepting the ball instead of close contact and pressure.