KANSAS CITY, Kan. — You could say Sporting KC and manager Peter Vermes are at the forefront of team sports returning to the pitch.
It appears a lot of eyes, even beyond the soccer world, are interested in what’s happening at the Pinnacle.
“There’s a couple baseball teams that requested our video and asked if they could use it. There’s a really big league in the world that asked if we could use it as well. Of course we shared it. It was no big deal.”
Under a new MLS policy that Vermes advocated for, Sporting KC players returned for voluntary individual workouts last week at their practice facilities.
But he knows there are a lot of steps to go before games can begin again.
“What I can tell you is, we’re not getting to the next phases of any of this stuff unless there’s testing,” Vermes said. “When we start training 7 versus 7, team training, we’re going to have testing incorporated in that. I think everybody is mindful of the safety aspect of it.”
Vermes doesn’t feel the league is trying to rush the players back for games either.
“That’s their business. They have to stay fit, so they’re going to find a way to do that,” he said of his athletes.
“For us it was just to find a way to do it in the safest way possible. If you have (Alan) Pulido out at a park training and someone sees him and all of a sudden it’s 30 people out there wanting a picture with him. We can’t put him in that position.”
To make sure they’re taking the necessary precautions, Vermes said players and staff will be tested either Friday or Monday at the latest on site at Compass Minerals. They will also take the antibody test as well.
He also said each and every team has been requested to search for partners within their area for tests.
“This isn’t a competitions between clubs to get it first,” Vermes said. “We’re trying to help each other. We’re going to try as best as we can to get on the field the best way we can.”
