San Diego Sockers to opt into 2020-2021 MASL season
Credit: Sockers
The San Diego Sockers are back.
On Dec. 2, the San Diego Sockers agreed to participate in the 2020-2021 Major Arena Soccer League Season. The decision comes after a vote from the MASL Board of Directors allowed for a modified season to commence.
While a beginning date has yet to be announced, the league can begin as soon as Dec. 31, with the final regular-season game to be played on April 18, 2021
They will be joining ten of their fellow MASL teams in playing in the COVID-19 shortened season. After the vote was conducted, Baltimore, Dallas, Florida, Harrisburg, Kansas City, Ontario, Rochester, St. Louis, Tacoma, and Utica joined the Sockers in opting into the 2020-2021 season.
Of the remaining teams, Mesquite, Turlock, Milwaukee, Monterrey, and Sonora will not be playing in the campaign due to constrictions brought by the coronavirus pandemic. However, all of the teams remain in the good grace of the league and are considered active members of the MASL.
Each of the 11 teams will play in a regular-season ranging from 12 to 24 games in order to be eligible for playoff contention. The structure of the schedule and playoff format will be announced at a later date.
Plenty of game decisions will be resting on local and state regulations. Such areas that will be determined are fan capacity, game dates, and the total number of games played. Due to the sheer unpredictability of how many games can be played, the standings will be determined on win percentage.
As for the Sockers, they will be playing away from Pechanga Arena for this season. After convening with local health officials, the team state in their press release that they “do not believe it will be possible to have home dates at Pechanga Arena or any other local venue during the 2020-21 campaign.”
Instead, the team will be playing away from California. This will be the first time the Sockers will be playing in a city other than San Diego since 1977 when they were known as the Las Vegas Quicksilvers.
As of this writing, the team has yet to decide where they will be playing in the upcoming season but will play their home matches outside of California to satisfy the minimum schedule requirements
I am currently attending San Diego State University while working on achieving a major in journalism. At SDSU, I write for The Daily Aztec while also hosting the sports radio show “Picked Off”, for KCR Radio. A loyal fan of San Diego sports, I hope to bring content that you will enjoy reading.