This is the letter sent to the USAFL Team Presidents, by Seb Aguiari, the USAFL President:

Dear Presidents,

Let me begin by saying thank you for your continued patience during this unprecedented time as the board continues to monitor the situation with COVID-19 and make adjustments to our 2020 season accordingly. Based on the current situation, for the safety and the health of our Members, the Umpire Association, and our partners, we have made the decision to cancel the USAFL Regional Tournaments for 2020.

We are still hoping that we will be able to play tournament footy within the coming months. Therefore, our current plan is for the USAFL to support and promote smaller local tournaments, once it is safe and permitted to do so, later in the summer and fall. The goal with this alternative plan is to limit the size of these tournaments and reduce the need for air travel as much as possible. Financial support will be granted through a host application process (based on the tournament grant concept). The aim will be to provide the opportunity for all clubs access to tournament football with financial support provided by the USAFL.

Regional VPs will work with clubs in their region to define suitable accessible locations for tournaments when it becomes safe to do so. These will be supported by USAFL through cost reimbursement and resources (such as umpires when possible) to assist host clubs. See USAFL Sub-Regional Tournaments 2020 document.

The situation remains very fluid. States and counties are following different guidelines and timelines. Due to the unique needs and circumstances for each locality, the USAFL is not in a position to set a universal return date for returning to football activities. However, we must ask you to continue to follow the advice, guidelines and policies set by your respective local authorities and to keep your communities’ safety as a top priority. Any support from the league, including Certificates of Insurance and Tournament Grants, will be contingent on clubs’ ability to provide evidence that football activities are permitted and within the local authorities safety guidelines.

We are still very much looking forward to Nationals 2020 in Ontario California. We are hopeful that we will be able to hold the tournament, which so many of us look forward to all year. October 2020 is just over five months away, and much can change in that time so it is critically important that we all remain in regular contact over the coming months. In the meantime, the USAFL continues to work to prepare for our best tournament to date and we will continue to share any updates as they become available.

As we look forward to the end of our hiatus, a reminder that club dues are designed to support the league administration, which includes insurance, payroll, IT support, bank and tax fees, and legal fees. Club dues are necessary to keep the league operating in 2020 and preparefor above indicated local USAFL supported tournaments and Nationals 2020. Thank you to any clubs who have submitted their 2020 dues. There is no set deadline at this time but we appreciate your support in submitting payment when and if you can. If your Club is facing financial uncertainties, please kindly reach your respective RVP’s. Let us know how we can help.

Members’ dues remain on hold at this time. The USAFL Board continues to monitor the situation and meet on a weekly basis to discuss any updates. We will continue to review alternatives and options as the schedule takes shape over the coming weeksand will share information on dues once a decision has been made.

We will also revise and communicate National Eligibility Points requirements at the appropriate time. Once we have a better grasp of what the 2020 Season Schedule will look like, we can effectively communicate NEPs requirements. Our goal is to allow returning players and new Americans as easy a path to Nationals as possible, while still keeping safety a top priority and any changes to NEPs will reflect that. If your Club has opportunities to play games, assuming local authorities permission and safety guidelines in place, please continue to enter games and scoresheets in LMS.

Our next official league-wide notice is scheduled for June 1st though RVPs will share updates regularly. At that time, we plan to have more clarity on the remainder of the 2020 season.In the meantime, please continue to communicate with and support one another and do not hesitate to contact your RVP with any questions or concerns. Thank you, again, for all of your openness and understanding during this time. We look forward to seeing each of you on the field again in the future and wish you safety during this time.

Very Sincerely,

Seb Aguiari

President, United States Australian Football League

The original post can be found at: https://usafl.com/files/attachments/USAFL%20Update%205-1-2020.pdf

The USAFL SubRegions document can be found at: https://usafl.com/files/attachments/USAFL%20Sub-Regional%20Tournaments%202020.pdf