FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[jknezek]

FWIW

The North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), which includes Wittenberg, Wabash et al, has suspended all athletics until the end of this calendar year. They join several other conferences that have also canceled.
Who's next?   

Everyone. It just depends on how long they wait to make an announcement.

[02 Warhawk]

Agreed, I highly doubt there will be D3 football this year.

[jknezek]

Agreed, I highly doubt there will be D3 football this year.

D3 Athletics     It's not just football. But yeah. The snowball is rolling downhill. When the testing within 72 hour rec came out it was the nail in the coffin. You just can't do that in D3, or D2 or even FCS, and not spend more than it's worth. With the rec to cancel championships it's pretty much over. You have conferences and teams holding out for various reasons, but they know the score.

[MediaGuy]

I don't know if anyone has asked this question yet, because I realize that the "spring season" solution is an attempt to still play a season hoping there will be significant changes to the statistics or health care by spring...but if we play a full season in the spring and then again in the fall of 2021 we are going to ask athletes to play a minimum of 20 college level football games in a span of 7-8 months.  And that is a minimum...even if you have a shortened spring season say 8 conference games plus say 3 rounds of playoffs there is still a huge potential for over-use type injuries.  Say Mount Union or UW Whitewater plays in all 13 games of a shortened spring season, then goes to the Stagg bowl the following fall, that would be 27 games played in 8 months.
I've talked to players who have played in 13 game seasons, and most of them are still dealing with lingering injuries well into Jan or Feb the next year.  The off-season is used not only to get bigger, faster and stronger, but also to change the work load on an athletes body.

If you look at baseball players, the pitchers who end up getting Tommy John surgery in their early 20s don't throw harder or do less rehab than other players, they're usually the ones in winter leagues and multiple traveling teams growing up and they never get an off-season to rest and recover.  If we learn anything from the CTE debate that has dominated our sport for the last few years, it should be that proper recovery and rehab is just as important than preventing injuries and that even though college athletes look and feel indestructible, they are far from it.

I don't have a simple or easy solution, but I do know if we end up playing spring and fall back to back, we will see a significant increase in knee, back and shoulder injuries in the fall

[jamtod]

Agreed, I highly doubt there will be D3 football this year.

D3 Athletics     It's not just football. But yeah. The snowball is rolling downhill. When the testing within 72 hour rec came out it was the nail in the coffin.

I don't understand why these conferences and universities aren't consulting with some members of our d3boards.com community that have easy solutions for this and all of the other concerns. Seems like a real missed opportunity to tap into the collective wisdom of this place and save college athletics and many of these colleges that will go under.

[AndOne]

Sorry to burst the possible spring football bubble, Media Guy, but I doubt if spring football is truly a viable possibility. What about other fall sports that get cancelled? Are they going to get the opportunity to migrate to spring too? Equity you know. 
Football, lacrosse, and soccer often use the same field. How are schools going to arrange things where all the already scheduled spring sports plus any fall sports moved to spring are going to have enough space to stage their competitions. Football at 7:00 followed by soccer at 11:00? Doesn't seem realistic, does it? Additionally, would the SID and his staff ever get any sleep? And what about the training staffs. I can't believe many D3s have training staffs the size of which would be needed to adequately staff a multitude of sports all being conducted within the same spring season.
Given all the above, it unfortunately seems that we're going to be denied the opportunity to see competitive spring football. ☹️

[wally_wabash]

Sorry to burst the possible spring football bubble, Media Guy, but I doubt if spring football is truly a viable possibility. What about other fall sports that get cancelled? Are they going to get the opportunity to migrate to spring too? Equity you know. 

Actually, yes! The DIII Management Council approved Gumby-like flexibility for all fall sports to define their playing seasons to basically whenever they want.  So the possibility for the division to coalesce behind an effort to play fall sports concurrently with the spring sports season has the green light (no word on if NCAA championships would also move, but that's not the pressing issue). 

Now, everything else you mentioned exist as hurdles to realizing fall and spring sports seasons simultaneously.  Many (most?) D3 schools just don't have the bandwidth wrt personnel and physical space to just drop an entire fall sports schedule on top of the regularly scheduled spring sports schedule.  We don't know what Covid-19 mitigation steps may/will still be necessary this spring.  But, at the very least, the possibility is there and schools, conferences, and the division have six months to engineer something that could maybe work. 

[WW]

I realize this is a snowball gaining speed down a steep slope, but I'm hanging onto hope of a seven-game October-November, no-playoff season. Or maybe make an 8th game state crossover championship among the NACC, CCIW and MWC teams in the state. But be done by Thanksgiving, which is when many schools sound like they're wrapping up their academic calendar anyway. I just hate to see this decision made in the face of today's COVID realities, which won't be September's COVID realities. If things are as bad or worse then, shut it down then.

But spring football is a non-starter, IMO. If fall 20 passes without football, let's make sure it can happen in fall 21.

[WW]

For what it's worth, the Wisconsin high school athletic governing body (WIAA) is about to recommend Sept 7 practice start, Sept 21 games start, six (or seven) game season, three levels of playoffs.

I don't know if WIAC would follow suit or even care what the high schools do, but it is a precedent of sorts.

[jamtod]

For what it's worth, the Wisconsin high school athletic governing body (WIAA) is about to recommend Sept 7 practice start, Sept 21 games start, six (or seven) game season, three levels of playoffs.

I don't know if WIAC would follow suit or even care what the high schools do, but it is a precedent of sorts.

I suspect in many decisions, the college decisions might differ from high school as a result of:
* students coming from a wide geography
* for many small communities, a heavy population influx (relative to year-round population) with concerns about stress on hospital systems, etc

I don't know how much pressure or influence these cities/local public health departments have on the colleges, but I'm sure there are conversations happening that will impact these decisions.

[formerd3db]

For what it's worth, the Wisconsin high school athletic governing body (WIAA) is about to recommend Sept 7 practice start, Sept 21 games start, six (or seven) game season, three levels of playoffs.

I don't know if WIAC would follow suit or even care what the high schools do, but it is a precedent of sorts.

I suspect in many decisions, the college decisions might differ from high school as a result of:
* students coming from a wide geography
* for many small communities, a heavy population influx (relative to year-round population) with concerns about stress on hospital systems, etc

I don't know how much pressure or influence these cities/local public health departments have on the colleges, but I'm sure there are conversations happening that will impact these decisions.

Believe me, the local and state public health departments have a lot in the say of what and how the colleges will be allowed to conduct the services and activities involved from athletics to food services, etc.

[jamtod]

For what it's worth, the Wisconsin high school athletic governing body (WIAA) is about to recommend Sept 7 practice start, Sept 21 games start, six (or seven) game season, three levels of playoffs.

I don't know if WIAC would follow suit or even care what the high schools do, but it is a precedent of sorts.

I suspect in many decisions, the college decisions might differ from high school as a result of:
* students coming from a wide geography
* for many small communities, a heavy population influx (relative to year-round population) with concerns about stress on hospital systems, etc

I don't know how much pressure or influence these cities/local public health departments have on the colleges, but I'm sure there are conversations happening that will impact these decisions.

Believe me, the local and state public health departments have a lot in the say of what and how the colleges will be allowed to conduct the services and activities involved from athletics to food services, etc.

This explains why some of the major colleges operate in their own "municipality" encompassing solely the university property. I think Notre Dame, Indiana and Stanford, CA are both setup this way. So they contract for police and fire protection.

[formerd3db]

For what it's worth, the Wisconsin high school athletic governing body (WIAA) is about to recommend Sept 7 practice start, Sept 21 games start, six (or seven) game season, three levels of playoffs.

I don't know if WIAC would follow suit or even care what the high schools do, but it is a precedent of sorts.

I suspect in many decisions, the college decisions might differ from high school as a result of:
* students coming from a wide geography
* for many small communities, a heavy population influx (relative to year-round population) with concerns about stress on hospital systems, etc

I don't know how much pressure or influence these cities/local public health departments have on the colleges, but I'm sure there are conversations happening that will impact these decisions.

Believe me, the local and state public health departments have a lot in the say of what and how the colleges will be allowed to conduct the services and activities involved from athletics to food services, etc.

This explains why some of the major colleges operate in their own "municipality" encompassing solely the university property. I think Notre Dame, Indiana and Stanford, CA are both setup this way. So they contract for police and fire protection.

That may be true for some schools as you point out. However, for others, there is both i.e. joint oversight. At Michigan State, they have their own police department {as do the schools you mention I'm sure), yet both MSU's and the City of East Lansing's police department have juristriction over law enforcement on campus. Again, the local and county health/medical laws, mandates, etc., are in effect even of there is an autonomous munincipality. At most places the county health administrators can come in and shut down, for example the food services, cafeterias , on- campus delis, including for athletic pre-season camps if deemed necessary for health concerns, inspections, etc.

[WW]

For what it's worth, the Wisconsin high school athletic governing body (WIAA) is about to recommend Sept 7 practice start, Sept 21 games start, six (or seven) game season, three levels of playoffs.

I don't know if WIAC would follow suit or even care what the high schools do, but it is a precedent of sorts.

I suspect in many decisions, the college decisions might differ from high school as a result of:
* students coming from a wide geography
* for many small communities, a heavy population influx (relative to year-round population) with concerns about stress on hospital systems, etc

I don't know how much pressure or influence these cities/local public health departments have on the colleges, but I'm sure there are conversations happening that will impact these decisions.

Believe me, the local and state public health departments have a lot in the say of what and how the colleges will be allowed to conduct the services and activities involved from athletics to food services, etc.

This explains why some of the major colleges operate in their own "municipality" encompassing solely the university property. I think Notre Dame, Indiana and Stanford, CA are both setup this way. So they contract for police and fire protection.

That may be true for some schools as you point out. However, for others, there is both i.e. joint oversight. At Michigan State, they have their own police department {as do the schools you mention I'm sure), yet both MSU's and the City of East Lansing's police department have juristriction over law enforcement on campus. Again, the local and county health/medical laws, mandates, etc., are in effect even of there is an autonomous munincipality. At most places the county health administrators can come in and shut down, for example the food services, cafeterias , on- campus delis, including for athletic pre-season camps if deemed necessary for health concerns, inspections, etc.

I don't think this is a relevant discussion per WIAC. If any member schools were in Dane or Milwaukee counties, then perhaps.

[jamtod]

For what it's worth, the Wisconsin high school athletic governing body (WIAA) is about to recommend Sept 7 practice start, Sept 21 games start, six (or seven) game season, three levels of playoffs.

I don't know if WIAC would follow suit or even care what the high schools do, but it is a precedent of sorts.

I suspect in many decisions, the college decisions might differ from high school as a result of:
* students coming from a wide geography
* for many small communities, a heavy population influx (relative to year-round population) with concerns about stress on hospital systems, etc

I don't know how much pressure or influence these cities/local public health departments have on the colleges, but I'm sure there are conversations happening that will impact these decisions.

Believe me, the local and state public health departments have a lot in the say of what and how the colleges will be allowed to conduct the services and activities involved from athletics to food services, etc.

This explains why some of the major colleges operate in their own "municipality" encompassing solely the university property. I think Notre Dame, Indiana and Stanford, CA are both setup this way. So they contract for police and fire protection.

That may be true for some schools as you point out. However, for others, there is both i.e. joint oversight. At Michigan State, they have their own police department {as do the schools you mention I'm sure), yet both MSU's and the City of East Lansing's police department have juristriction over law enforcement on campus. Again, the local and county health/medical laws, mandates, etc., are in effect even of there is an autonomous munincipality. At most places the county health administrators can come in and shut down, for example the food services, cafeterias , on- campus delis, including for athletic pre-season camps if deemed necessary for health concerns, inspections, etc.

I don't think this is a relevant discussion per WIAC. If any member schools were in Dane or Milwaukee counties, then perhaps.

Do you not think the city of River Falls, increasing its local population by 25% from all over the state (including Dane and Milwaukee counties) and country could have some concerns and oversight for UW-River Falls?

I think it is even more relevant for schools that are in populations outside of hot spots currently. It's no doubt a complicated picture, with real economic concerns for these towns as well.