Fans of the San Diego Seals and the National Lacrosse League (NLL) can officially exhale as the league and the Professional Lacrosse Players Association (PLPA) respectively agreed on a new five-year collective bargaining agreement to end the nine-day labor dispute. The deal officially gives the all clear for teams to begin training camp this Friday.

With the new deal in place, the Seals will officially up open their inaugural season on December 22nd in Denver against the Colorado Mammoth at 6 pm PST. The labor dispute resulted in the cancellation of the first two weeks of the season. In the near future, the NLL will announce its plan to create a balanced schedule for all teams.

The Seals were originally slated to open up the season on December 8th against the Buffalo Bandits. However, the labor dispute occurred so close to the original start of training camp, that the first two weeks of the season were cancelled, as the league’s responded to the player association’s statement on the dispute said that, “The PLPA has instructed its players not to attend training camps or submit to physicals. The players have in fact followed these instructions which have made it impossible for the teams to form rosters or otherwise operate. Therefore, we reluctantly have no choice except to cancel the first two weekends of the 2018-19 season, December 1 and December 8, 2018”

Seals president Steve Govett expressed his excitement in the team’s official media release.

“We’re thrilled to open training camp on Friday, and to bring a great sports and entertainment product to San Diego, the countdown to Opening Night is on!”

The Seals will make their first home splash in the NLL on January 12, 2019, at 7 pm PST against the Rochester Knighthawks.