In February, MLQ announced tentative plans for a 2021 MLQ season. With the border between Canada and the U.S. remaining closed and the vaccination rate of Canada still lagging behind that of the U.S., we will be moving into Phase Two. In the event that Phase Two becomes infeasible, we will be moving into Phase Three. This determination will be made based on case rates in franchise locations as we move into the summer months.
In Phase Two of our schedule, opening day for the 2021 MLQ season remains on the calendar for Saturday, June 26. The 2021 MLQ Championship is scheduled for Aug. 21-23 in Howard County, Md. All cross-border play has been removed. Ottawa and Toronto will still participate in MLQ; however, they will play two series against one another and the focus will be on expansion of their franchises. MLQ directors will be meeting with the franchise leadership for these two teams in order to discuss next steps and outline further details of what their summer will look like.
MLQ has also invited the Charlotte Aviators to temporarily join the East Division as an MLQ Trial Expansion Team. An MLQ Trial Expansion Team is defined as a team which MLQ has determined could be a potential MLQ franchise location in the future and is invited to participate in the league for a trial season(s). The team will be treated like an MLQ franchise with minor exceptions related predominantly to brand usage. The team will maintain their own, pre-existing branding and will not be able to use the MLQ logo on their kits during their trial season(s). Following the trial season(s), the MLQ director team will discuss whether to add the team as an official MLQ franchise.
“We’re elated that MLQ has given us this opportunity to show what we have to offer. It is unfortunate that it comes at the expense of Ottawa and Toronto, but I hope this opportunity can serve as an entry point for a long-standing relationship between our two organizations,” said Ryan Davis, commissioner of the Southeast league and a founder of the Aviators.
The Aviators will be held to MLQ policies, including but not limited to standard tryout registration policies, the MLQ Return to Play Guidelines and stay and play. The recruitment radius will be North Carolina and South Carolina. Those outside of those states hoping to play for the Aviators may submit a request via the MLQ Radius Waiver.
RETURN TO PLAY GUIDELINES
As always, the safety of our athletes, fans and communities continues to be our top priority. On Friday, we released the MLQ Return to Play Guidelines. We will be closely monitoring areas where teams are located based on our tier-based system to ensure that a return to play can still be feasible this summer. Future phase determinations will be based on whether it is safe to play based on the metrics laid out in those guidelines.
TRYOUTS
As announced on March 1, all MLQ tryouts will require video submissions for the 2021 season. There will be no full-scale in-person tryouts. Unlike past seasons, all teams will have the same video requirements and–given available game film is at least a year old–there will be supplementary fitness and skill demonstrations required. In the event an athlete is reasonably unable to meet the requirements, franchise staff will work to come up with an alternative submission such as providing the opportunity to attend a filming session (by appointment) with a franchise coach and manager.
The list of actual requirements, along with the athlete tryout registration form can be found here. If you have any questions regarding how to safely film your tryout session, please contact [email protected].
Questions, comments or concerns? Contact MLQ at [email protected].