FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[y_jack_lok]

This is a pessimistic scenario for football in particular: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/04/04/how-long-until-sports-can-return-you-might-not-like-answer/

[y_jack_lok]

This article is about Division 1, but likely has some relevance to D3. https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/04/08/disruption-football-season-would-be-very-bad-all-college-sports/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most

Here's the next to last paragraph: "Iowa State's Pollard emphasized the tremendous uncertainty around the coronavirus pandemic at this point, expressing hope the season would begin as scheduled while acknowledging the possibility predicted by some experts that pro and college sports won't return until 2021. He also noted that, in the grand scheme of things, if college football can't be played this fall and winter, it probably means there are far more significant problems confronting the nation."

[y_jack_lok]

Sports Illustrated article on why sports are unlikely to return soon. Granted this is focused on pro sports, but most of the issues apply to sports at any level.

https://www.si.com/mlb/2020/04/10/sports-arent-coming-back-soon?fbclid=IwAR0_XGbPRbR1lVF-4vFGvzOWwGvSLGi8leT7VBQesBWiRA6beJwGQTLH8HI

[HSCTiger fan]

So long as we are in a situation where if a player on a team gets the virus and then the rest of the team must be quarantined how could they play?  I just don't think they can.  College football can adjust their schedules to play later in the year or even in the spring if they choose. However, high school does not have that luxury.  There are too many two and three sport athletes to make adjusting the schedule viable. D3 players who don't play or practice retain their eligibility but HS kids are done. Such a sad situation.

[thescottharris]

So long as we are in a situation where if a player on a team gets the virus and then the rest of the team must be quarantined how could they play?  I just don't think they can.  College football can adjust their schedules to play later in the year or even in the spring if they choose. However, high school does not have that luxury.  There are too many two and three sport athletes to make adjusting the schedule viable. D3 players who don't play or practice retain their eligibility but HS kids are done. Such a sad situation.

The economic and resource logistics of having fall sports play in second semester will be a disaster at the D3 level. Most D3 athletic departments already run with practically a skeleton crew as it is.

[jknezek]

So long as we are in a situation where if a player on a team gets the virus and then the rest of the team must be quarantined how could they play?  I just don't think they can.  College football can adjust their schedules to play later in the year or even in the spring if they choose. However, high school does not have that luxury.  There are too many two and three sport athletes to make adjusting the schedule viable. D3 players who don't play or practice retain their eligibility but HS kids are done. Such a sad situation.

The economic and resource logistics of having fall sports play in second semester will be a disaster at the D3 level. Most D3 athletic departments already run with practically a skeleton crew as it is.

Yeah. I don't see this as an option. Either they will get played or they won't. Like spring sports. Personally I think they will. If students can be in dorms and eating in communal halls, they can play sports. Though maybe without fans. Or at least, without fans excepts parents maintaining social distance. We will see. Maybe a shortened season, though trend lines outside a few epicenters look good...

No way I'd go to a DI game. Sitting in those stadiums with tens of thousands crammed into bleachers... not this fall. Not for me.

[HSCTiger fan]

So long as we are in a situation where if a player on a team gets the virus and then the rest of the team must be quarantined how could they play?  I just don’t think they can.  College football can adjust their schedules to play later in the year or even in the spring if they choose. However, high school does not have that luxury.  There are too many two and three sport athletes to make adjusting the schedule viable. D3 players who don’t play or practice retain their eligibility but HS kids are done. Such a sad situation.

The economic and resource logistics of having fall sports play in second semester will be a disaster at the D3 level. Most D3 athletic departments already run with practically a skeleton crew as it is.

Yeah. I don't see this as an option. Either they will get played or they won't. Like spring sports. Personally I think they will. If students can be in dorms and eating in communal halls, they can play sports. Though maybe without fans. Or at least, without fans excepts parents maintaining social distance. We will see. Maybe a shortened season, though trend lines outside a few epicenters look good...

No way I'd go to a DI game. Sitting in those stadiums with tens of thousands crammed into bleachers... not this fall. Not for me.

Football is very different than spring sports.  The average D1 football team rakes in 78 million according to USAToday. No spring sports come remotely close to this number.   I know D3 does not come close to these numbers either. But with this kind of money at stake the NCAA will do anything to get the games in - whenever they’re played. I don’t see them coming up with a different set of rules or guidelines for playing the games for D3 than D1. It may be economically and logistically difficult but if the NCAA says play in the spring - they’ll tell D3 to figure it out.  The idea of spring football from February to May is being discussed. Google “College football to the spring of 2021”. With college football being played in every state and with different states implementing different rules as it relates to Covid 19 it seems very likely a disruption to the schedule is inevitable.

[thescottharris]

Be on the lookout for news in the near future about a reduction in # of scheduled games for this season. Have no idea how many it will be but hearing there will be a reduction across the board in all sports for D3 much like D2 has done. Not saying we will see as many games slashed from schedules but just that it's going to be across the board like D2 did.

[Generals98]

My friend son goes to A D2 school and they got the word. They just dropped one game and was told that they were to report 6 weeks before the first game as of right now. He stated that the coach was on a committee for D2 sports and they are definitely looking at having a season but it might have some different stipulations. 

[HSCTiger64]

So uh, any word on E&H looking good go to D2?   Heard initially football coaches using it in recruiting then Newsome was asked about them exploring the move and gave no comment in a recent article.  E&H to leave the ODAC???

[HSCTiger fan]

High Schools in NC can have summer workouts starting June 15th. A few rules:
No more than 25 to a field including coaches
Temperature checks before every practice for every player
No indoor activities (film, weight room etc)
Every player must bring their own water bottle (no sharing)
Equipment has to be sprayed down after every practice
Practice uniforms must be washed every day.

[wally_wabash]

Practice uniforms must be washed every day.

Solid advice even when not in the midst of a pandemic.   

[Ron Boerger]

So uh, any word on E&H looking good go to D2?   Heard initially football coaches using it in recruiting then Newsome was asked about them exploring the move and gave no comment in a recent article.  E&H to leave the ODAC???

This would seem to be the exact wrong time to try and add costs to an athletic program, which a move to scholarship athletics would certainly do.

[thescottharris]

So uh, any word on E&H looking good go to D2?   Heard initially football coaches using it in recruiting then Newsome was asked about them exploring the move and gave no comment in a recent article.  E&H to leave the ODAC???

A school that has never finished top half in the ODAC Commissioner's Cup and used to routinely finish last or next to last for co-ed schools in the Cup allegedly wants to go D2 now? Good luck with that.

They aren't consistently competitive in anything, and most sports they are rarely ever competitive in if ever. Their bread and butter of football is a shell of its former self where merely two years in a row with a winning ODAC record is a great run these days. They've only won six ODAC championships outside of football, and three of those were women's tennis in the 1980s before W&L's dynasty started in 1989, and W&L has only lost one ODAC Championship since then. The other three are men's basketball in 2018, and they've fallen off a cliff since David Willson left; women's basketball in 1988; and softball in 2003.

And what does it even accomplish unless you are looking at it as a stepping stone to eventually being D1? Unless there is a very clear pathway to more on-the-field success at D2, at best, you get the same level of obscurity as D3 (I'd argue even less given the D3sports.com network) and paying more for it.

[HSCTiger74]

  Maybe they figure they can save enough on travel costs to offset the additional expenses of however many scholarships they offer, not to mention less time lost from classes. They are a lot closer to D2 schools in TN, NC and WV than to most of the ODAC schools, and the D2 results shouldn't be too much worse than what they've been getting in recent years at the D3 level, maybe even a little better if they can lure in some athletes with scholarship money.