Fans can start rejoicing because Major League Soccer announced this past Friday, May 1st, 2020, that “Players have the opportunity to conduct voluntary workouts beginning May 6th.”

The announcement gave MLS clubs the opportunity for players to individually train in their facilities as stated on their website below:

MLS to begin individual player workouts beginning May 6https://t.co/iKofpJfVu9

— MLS Communications (@MLS_PR) May 1, 2020

MLS designed guidelines to keep players, coaches, and staff safe from spreading COVID-19. Inter Miami, Orlando City, Atlanta United, and Sporting Kansas City were the first teams to implement individual training this past Wednesday.

Rules and Health Guidelines

The following guidelines are what the MLS expects for all teams to follow successfully:

• Restricting training facility access to essential staff only, with specific staff listed in the plan.
• Sanitation and disinfection plans for all training equipment and spaces, including disinfection of any equipment used by players (balls, cones, goals) between every session.
• Completion of a Standard Screening Assessment survey by each player prior to every arrival at the training site, and temperature checks upon arrival at the facility.
• Staggered player and staff arrivals and departures, with designated parking spaces to maintain maximum distance between vehicles.
• Player use of personal protective equipment from the parking lot to the field, and again on return to the parking lot.
• Staff use of the appropriate personal protective equipment throughout training, while also maintaining a minimum distance of 10 feet from players at all times.
• Hand washing and disinfectant stations for required use before and after individual workouts.
• Clubs will have the use of the outdoor fields at their training facility, divided into a maximum of four quadrants per field. A maximum of one player per quadrant may participate per training session with no equipment sharing or playing (passing, shooting) between players.
• An Emergency Action Plan for all COVID-19 related issues.

What this means for FC Dallas

In an interview given on Thursday afternoon, FCD head coach Luchi Gonzalez spoke with 105.3 The Fan. Luchi gave his take as to what he plans for his team to do in regards to the league-wide announcement. “We decided not to break our week in half. Our players have been working very well independently and following our plan with videos and zoom,” Luchi said, “We feel confident that we’re going to get our goals accomplished this week. … Having a fresh start next week is the idea for us.”

“I’m super excited. I know the staff’s excited. I know the players are excited. We’re going to learn a lot next week,” Gonzalez said. “This is a good next step for us. I can’t wait to see our boys. I can’t give them a hug yet, which I would love to do. … We’re going to work individually, but we’re going to keep it competitive.”

Consequently, the re-opening of the club’s facilities will help boost morale as teams patiently wait to re-start game-day operations. 

FCD is currently 1-1-0 and sits at fourth place in the Western Conference, and we can certainly assume that these developments are the biggest steps MLS has taken towards the resumption on their season.