Adjusting to rough year, preparing for ’21 season

Although the Orlando Pride resumed team training this week, the 2020 season continues to look uniquely irregular for the club.

With nearly half of the team set to spend the rest of the year overseas on loan, the remaining members of the Pride are looking to build for a strong run in 2021.

The last seven weeks have been challenging for staff and players alike. The Pride were set to flex a bolstered lineup and a driven focus at the NWSL Challenge Cup, only to withdraw shortly before their departure date due to COVID-19 test results.

Veterans expressed anger over younger teammates who broke social-distancing policies. Coaches and players were forced to quarantine away from family members, then faced confusion when several of their tests came back as false positives.

“It was an intensely emotional period of time,” executive VP Amanda Duffy told the Orlando Sentinel on Tuesday. “For each individual, the source of that emotion came from a different place. With a lot of it, frankly it was going to require time to separate from the situation and be able to process the situation and be able to look at anything that we did going forward with a clear mind and clear ability to focus on the future versus anything from the past.”

As the Pride resume formal training, Duffy said the group has a more positive mindset.

Although the team hasn’t imposed more social-distancing policies following the Challenge Cup withdrawal, Duffy said the experience was eye-opening and underscored the risks posed by the pandemic. As a result, she said there’s a heightened caution and concern across the club.

The Pride and the rest of the teams in the NWSL returned to training this week, but match dates are in flux.

Major League Soccer and the United Soccer League both have resumed regularseason play outside bubbles, with teams traveling regionally to play opponents. Some teams in both leagues are allowing fans back into the stands, although they have faced criticism.

But the NWSL has yet to announce its plans for 2020 matches.

“Each league is different,” Duffy said. “While there might be the commonality of playing the same sport and trying to maneuver through this unique period successfully, each league is different in terms of its business condition and also with respect to support and guidance from the medical task force and the players associations.”

Although Duffy said she understands the league’s need to take time in crafting a plan for upcoming matches, the lack of guaranteed game play quickly created a challenge for the Pride.

The current proposal by the league would place teams into groups of three for a series of home and away matches, according to Washington Post reporter Steven Goff. In this setup, Orlando would be placed in a group with the reigning NWSL champion North Carolina Courage and Challenge Cup champion Houston Dash.

The Pride would start on the road, playing in North Carolina on Sept. 19 and in Houston on Sept. 26. The team would then return to Orlando, hosting the Dash on Oct. 10 and the Courage on Oct. 17.

At most, the team will play four matches in this plan. Without playing in the Challenge Cup, this small collection of matches wouldn’t offer enough time for the Pride to rotate their roster and develop young talent while also testing experienced players.

Duffy and Pride coach Marc Skinner agreed both groups need time in “competitively meaningful” games in 2020, but neither expected those types of matches to happen in the NWSL until 2021.

The pair decided to begin shopping players out for the best options for loans in Europe, where leagues are currently restarting for regular season play.

“We needed to make decisions that there was going to create the best comprehensive and collaborative environment that allowed them to train and play games,” Duffy said.

Six Pride players already have made their moves abroad official and at least five more loans are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. Most of these players are experienced veterans, with only one rookie — 2020 NWSL draft pick Phoebe McClernon — announced on loan.

Duffy said the goal is to use the upcoming training sessions and matches to mold the young talent of the Pride, who will be called upon heavily during the 2021 season due to the 2021 Olympics.

“We’re also thinking that next year, as it is right now, is an Olympic year,” Duffy said. “Similar to last year, there will be a number of gaps in the roster during that tournament time and we need to build our depth underneath the top layer of this roster. That’s a priority that was really highlighted last year, and we need to continue to work to build a roster that can move through periods of time with and without our internationals successfully.”