It should be no shock to anyone there were many changes that occurred in the past year. In fact, it was around this time last year that we heard about the impending epidemic, which would later turn into a pandemic, was brewing on the other side of the world.

The Covid-19 pandemic not only disrupted the way we lived our lives, but it also changed everything as we knew it.

After being in quarantine for a couple of months, and not being able to go to work or school, people began to get bored and frustrated. They missed leaving their homes to do things that they perhaps took for granted before. Among those things was sports.

The way fans experienced sports became very different in the year of 2020. Soccer being the world’s most popular sport perhaps had the largest adjustment to make, since most of their revenue comes from ticket sales.

While most soccer leagues around the world were able to continue their seasons later on the year, some local leagues weren’t as lucky.

In Georgia, the Atlanta District Amateur Soccer League (ADASL) had their 2019-2020 season cut short when all games were cancelled in early March 2020. While their season was about to end in April, most of the games that were cancelled or postponed were not rescheduled and the season ended without a winner.

The same went for other leagues across the state such as the United Premier Soccer League (UPSL), who didn’t even get to start their Spring 2020 season, and had to delay the start of the Fall 2020 season.

After the “green-light” was given to start try-outs and conditioning for the Fall 2020 season, teams had to first be aware of the guidelines given by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

These guidelines were pretty much the same to those given to the general public such as to make sure to wear masks, stay at least six feet apart from others around you, to wash your hands often and for at least 20 seconds with soap and water, and to make sure to stay at home if you are experiencing any Covid-19 symptoms.

However, there were a few more specific guidelines that included what to do before a sports event, what to do at the sports event, and what to do after a sports event. These guidelines also included some information about how to safely support teams by encouraging the use if masks. This is due to the chance of spreading respiratory droplets by yelling, chanting or singing.

I covered a couple of soccer games last fall for Potros FC, including their try-outs over the Summer and immediately saw the changes. Staff were always wearing their masks, and players who were not playing or who were on the bench were as well.

Spectators were allowed to attend games, but were not allowed to be at the field level at some sports complexes due to there not being enough room to social distance.

Most leagues in Metro-Atlanta however are keeping track of the number of cases in order to determine where it is safer to play, such is the case of the ADASL, who have their guidelines and case trackers on their website.

As the year anniversary of Covid-19 is approaching, it’s important to keep in mind that people are not to let their guard down just yet. Cases of Covid-19 are still rising in the state of Georgia, mainly in the densely populated counties such as Fulton, DeKalb, and Gwinnett. These counties also happen to be where most of the teams in the UPSL and ADASL play. So moving forward to the 2021 seasons it is important to stay on top of the news coming from the leagues in order to safely enjoy the games.

UPSL for example, is still enforcing teams across the league to follow the CDC guidelines along with the state and local guidelines. This in an effort to allow the league to flourish and grow.

The Georgia Division I of the UPSL, announced through Twitter on Friday that they were still accepting registrations for possible new teams.

The official start of the UPSL is set for early March.