METUCHEN, N.J. – United Women’s Soccer announced Friday that it canceled the 2020 UWS National Cup, which was scheduled to be held in Round Rock, Texas from July 9-17.

The league has been monitoring the rise of COVID-19 cases in the area and heeding the advice given by its medical director, Dr. Martha Pyron of Medicine in Motion, Texas.

“Due to the increase in cases in our area and the fact that teams would be flying in, I felt that the risk had increased to a point where we could not ensure the safety of all participants,” Dr. Pyron said in a statement.

In a press release, the league said that the safety of the participants has always been the top priority and while a “robust safety plan” was developed, the exponential growth in positive cases in the area combined with travel restrictions enacted by some states makes the envisioned tournament format untenable.

“With the rising number of cases and the pause in reopening that Gov. Greg Abbott put in place, we’re not going to ask teams to travel to Austin for the UWS National Cup,” Danny Woodfill, owner and general manager of host club FC Austin Elite, said in a statement. “When we first started planning, things looked very promising, but since announcing the cup things haven’t been as rosy. Taking into account Gov. Abbott’s recent announcement and our medical advice from Dr. Martha Pyron, now is not the time to have teams flying in from around the country to Austin. We’ll look at what we can do within our local area and what competition would be appropriate, but this national tournament doesn’t make sense at this time.”

Added UWS commissioner Joe Ferrara: “Anyone who has followed the sports scene in the last several days is aware of the challenges that have been bestowed upon all the professional leagues in their attempts to restart. When the health and safety of all individuals involved in the process can be compromised and when some of the logistics are no longer in your control then the logical decision becomes to change course as needed. We were all well aware of the possibility of cancelling or restructuring our events and unfortunately we have come to that point. Be that as it may, we will still look at other avenues this summer to help our players prepare for their professional careers or collegiate seasons.”

While a national cup is history, UWS sanctioned friendlies and regional tournaments still are planned for July.

UWS League Two is also in full swing in the Southeast.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.