San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Coronavirus specter lingers in postponed return to action
During the past week, the lot in front of Edinburg's H-E-B Park has often been lined with cars as thousands of patients cycled through the site in search of COVID-19 testing.
In response to the swell of the coronavirus pandemic in the Rio Grande Valley, the stadium was used as a “surge” testing location — one of eight established across just three cities nationwide by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Friday, H-E-B Park was supposed to return to its intended purpose as the home of RGV FC, hosting San Antonio FC in its first match of the USL Championship's return to play. But just 24 hours before kickoff, the teams announced the game had been postponed “out of an abundance of caution” following a positive COVID-19 test within the RGV FC organization.
The clubs decided Friday to reschedule the match for 8 p.m. Sunday, but the pandemic's specter continues to loom over the trip. Even before the last-minute change, SAFC was planning to modify numerous aspects of its travel plan.
San Antonio FC intended to bus to and from Edinburg on the same day and navigate an abbreviated pregame routine. Defender Joshua Yaro said Tuesday the alterations to SAFC's process compared to a typical away match help mitigate risk.
“When you travel on the road, you're in a hotel, and you have to go out and eat, and you come into contact with a lot of people and a lot of places, and that maximizes your chances of getting COVID,” Yaro said. “So, from the team standpoint, I think the way they're approaching it is fantastic, because it's a question of how do we keep these guys safe? Busing down, playing, and busing right back up minimizes our exposure to the outside world, and I think for us, that's important.”
Busing to road matches against RGV FC is typical, SAFC coach Alen Marcina said Tuesday, but this week's trip will include a socially distanced seating arrangement and a requirement that all players wear masks.
Marcina hesitated to share many of the details of SAFC's plan.
Yaro said San Antonio's players will have access to a hotel room and locker room space before kickoff, allowing for a pregame meal, medical treatment and time to loosen up after being confined to a bus.
SAFC's players often had a voice in the decisions on how to handle the trip, Yaro said, and Marcina said the club was careful to follow the numerous safety guidelines and directives established by the league.
“We have a very good staff and very knowledgeable staff of how to take care of the players' bodies on the trips,” Marcina said. “We're confident in the planning process we have in place.”
While some clubs have hosted limited crowds since the USL season restarted July 11, RGV FC announced last week that its home opener will be held without fans.
San Antonio FC made a similar announcement last week, saying fans will be barred from the team's first home match of the restart against RGV FC this upcoming Saturday.
“It's disappointing that we're not going to have the fans there, but then again, we're living in a special time, and we do understand that,” Yaro said. “In the perfect world, we'd love to have fans there, but we also understand the situation and what's going on currently, so I 100 percent support the decision.”
RGV FC returned to play July 11, losing 1-0 to El Paso Locomotive FC. Marcina said SAFC worked to take advantage of the extra week of preparation, but he doesn't believe his club has an edge in scouting.
San Antonio and RGV know each other well after meeting during the preseason, Yaro said, and resuming play a week later has pros and cons.
“You could see it as an advantage or a disadvantage,” Yaro said. “We can make the argument that we're fresh. We haven't played a game yet. But you can make the argument that it's going to be a tough time for us, because they had a week ahead of us. We don't look at those things. Those are just excuses.”
Marcina said he was “very happy” with the team's form and conditioning this week, but he acknowledged that “being 100 percent game fit requires games.”
SAFC hasn't taken the field against an opponent since March 7, when the team scored a 1-0 victory against defending USL champion Real Monarchs SLC.
After the season was suspended, San Antonio took a few days off before beginning virtual workouts via Zoom. As the weeks progressed, SAFC gradually resumed on-field activity, moving from individual training, to small groups, to full-team sessions and now the return of matches.
Yaro said the four-month gap between games brought the team closer, even if much of that time was spent apart.
“Everyone is really excited and looking forward to the start of the season,” Yaro said. “We've been putting a lot of work in since the start of the preseason in January, and we've been looking forward to this day. The group is really excited, and really motivated, and ready to go.”