Like their Canadian counterparts in Major League Soccer, Marcello Wainwright and his Toronto Arrows teammates are wondering where they will be able to play this year.
The when is also up in the air for the Major League Rugby team, in the wake of the decision by the expansion Dallas Jackals to delay their debut until 2022. That has required a revised schedule, yet to be released.
The Arrows say they are ready for whatever comes their way in terms of guidance from local government and health authorities.
“We do have a fully formed Plan B,” said Mark Winokur, the Arrows’ chief operating officer, and GM. “We’ve been working with the league and partner teams. And we have a solid Plan B that kind of piggybacks on another MLR city.
“But our first priority is to play in Canada. So we’re going to give it as much time as we need to see if that can happen. And if it can’t, then we’ll revert to a U.S. spot for as long as we need to be there. And as soon as we can come back to Canada, we’ll come back to Canada.”
Moving south of the border will not be cheap.
“There’s no way around that,” said Winokur. “It’s going to cost us more money to do that than stay here. But we’re working on every possible way to mitigate it. We’re committed to playing and we’re going to make it work.”
On Monday, the San Diego Legion announced it will play its 2021 home games in Las Vegas due to the level of COVID-19 in California. The league plans a dispersal draft “for potential redistribution” of Jackals players for the 2021 season.
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