Dear League Commissioners:

I hope this note finds you and your families well.

To help guide us safely back onto the field, USA Football is working with medical, athlete-development and football experts to establish return to play guidelines near-term.

Playing youth football, like many youth sports, calls for a phased-in approach with direction from county and state public health authorities. Today we released the start of our phased approach of Return to Youth Football 2020 for a careful and responsible commencement of play. Below is a breakdown of each phase:

• Phase 1: Top-level look at resources and guidance as states and cities begin to reopen. We help point youth leagues like yours to federal, state and local public health directives and permissions.
   
• Phase 2: Introduces football-specific mitigation considerations. We are in the midst of crafting these recommended best practices with select members of our Football Development Model Council, medical doctors and football experts.
   
• Phase 3: Football-specific playing guidelines for when youth leagues return to play, arguably our most critical and important phase. This final phase of guidelines will be crafted in collaboration with experts cited in Phase 2.

You can find Phase 1 and its resources mentioned on usafootball.com and linked here. Phase 2 and 3, currently in development, will be released in alignment with our sport's practice/playing calendar and where we are as a nation relative to resuming team sports and the holding of public gatherings. We plan to follow up soon to share Phase 2.

We are all in this together. Please reach out to your Regional Manager or our Help Desk with any questions you may have. We stand ready to serve and further support you.

Scott Hallenbeck
CEO/Executive Director
USA Football