By JAY WILSON

On Friday, May 5, the Crusaders Soccer Club received forms from the city of San Diego’s Park and Recreation Department which have been submitted to the County of San Diego for approval to begin the process of reopening the Navajo Community parks to allow practices for our CSC teams in compliance with the extensive requirements for sanitation and proper social distancing.

As of the date of this publication, only the park areas will be open for practices. Only joint use fields that are separated from the school buildings will be available for use. Therefore, city of San Diego staff must determine which fields are separated from the school buildings. The joint use fields in the Navajo area are: Lower Lewis and Skunk Hollow adjacent to Lewis Middle School, Pershing Middle School turf fields, Marvin, Hearst, Dailard and Gage Elementary Schools, as well as Forward Field which is between the San Carlos Rec Center and the Springall Academy.

All the joint-use fields remain off limits for now. Fortunately, all the joint-use fields, with the exception, of the lower field at Hearst and the Dailard elementary school fields are separated from the school itself by a fence. By the time you read this article, we are anticipating our CSC teams will be able to practice on the city of San Diego park fields.

Crusaders Soccer Club director Rene Miramontes and assistant director of coaching Victor Melendez have been working diligently over the past weeks to develop training plans that will allow teams to practice while following the social distancing guidelines. Club president Terry Cords and the Crusaders Board of Directors want to sincerely thank County Supervisor Kristin Gasper for championing her “Return to Play” effort allowing youth sports to resume practices.

For the past 11 weeks, competitive teams have been working with their professional coaches via Zoom meetings to ensure their players are staying in touch with one another. All competitive coaches have been conducting Zoom type meetings with their players.

Coach Jesus de Santiago commented, “I am conducting one hour Zoom meetings twice a week with my 2011 girls’ team and emphasizing ball control techniques. I am also encouraging my players to keep as physically fit as possible.”

Just prior to Mother’s Day, Coach Seth Tunick requested his players attend their next weekly Zoom meeting wearing a shirt and tie in honor of their mothers, and every player did. Coach Lauren Johnson has been conducting Zoom meetings with her team as well as Zoom Pilates classes for several of the other Crusaders teams. Coach Jesus Serrano has been conducting Zoom training classes for the competitive team goalies. To provide additional development opportunities for our players, Victor Melendez has implemented Friday afternoon Skills Clinics via Zoom for all our competitive and recreational players. These clinics combine skill and development with fun.

CSC is fully anticipating a robust fall season for our Recreational and Competitive teams. Registration for our fall competitive season has been on-going since January and registration for the Recreation Division’s fall season has just opened. For more information about registering for the fall season, check the Crusaders Soccer Club’s homepage at crusaderssoccer.org.

— Jay Wilson writes on behalf of Crusaders Soccer Club.