Covid Impacts on Upcoming Season

[fishercats]

Thanks...this was the decision I was hearing about.

FYI: http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/division-iii-increases-length-fall-sports-preseasons

[Golden_Fan]

News coming from the SUNYAC... They will be splitting into East and West divisions virtually eliminating the need for overnights. An interesting piece to note is that - "members of the two divisions potentially could schedule non-conference crossover contests against each other that would have no impact on the SUNYAC standings."

https://sunyacsports.com/general/2019-20/releases/20200617dwjbxn

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

News coming from the SUNYAC... They will be splitting into East and West divisions virtually eliminating the need for overnights. An interesting piece to note is that - "members of the two divisions potentially could schedule non-conference crossover contests against each other that would have no impact on the SUNYAC standings."

https://sunyacsports.com/general/2019-20/releases/20200617dwjbxn

Some schools I know are restricting non-conference travel to trips that can be done with no overnights, unless the programs pay for themselves. This is across the board for sports at those particular schools.

[Striker22]

FYI - this just out

-----------------------------

Important Announcement Regarding Fall 2020 Semester
Posted: Jun 22, 2020 
BRUNSWICK, Maine - Bowdoin College has released plans for the 2020 fall semester in an announcement from President Clayton Rose that can be found below.

Fall 2020 Announcement
Due to limits on campus attendance, sports in fall semester have been canceled with "opportunity for the winter, spring, and possibly fall varsity athletes to participate and compete in some form after January 1."

The full section on Athletics is here:
Unfortunately, we will not be participating in fall and winter varsity sports during the fall semester. This is one of the very disappointing outcomes of our plan. Athletics is a central part of the Bowdoin experience for many of our students and for the College more generally. NESCAC has not yet determined what will happen with conference play or how coaches in this extraordinary semester may interact with athletes on fall, winter, and spring teams during the fall semester, but I am hopeful that there will be significant opportunities this fall for coaches to work with those athletes who are both on and off campus. Varsity athletes living on campus are likely to have in-person workout opportunities with coaches, but unfortunately, students living off campus will not be permitted to participate in on-campus workouts. Last week, NESCAC released the following statement regarding the fall semester:

NESCAC institutions continue to focus on plans for the 2020–2021 academic year with the safety and well-being of students, faculty, staff, and their communities the primary concern. As institutions finalize their plans for the coming year, federal, state, and local health guidance, as well as institutional policies, will guide their independent decisions regarding reopening. 

Athletics engagement is an important part of the experience for many of our students, and member institutions remain committed to this experience. However, this will not be a traditional fall on campus in any respect, including for athletics. The conference continues to develop plans for the return to athletics, including possible modifications to NESCAC rules to allow institutions flexibility to provide for meaningful experiences for students within school policies and federal, state, and local health directives. We expect to have more details in the weeks ahead and will share information as it becomes available.

As I have already noted, I am hopeful that there will be an opportunity for the winter, spring, and possibly fall varsity athletes to participate and compete in some form after January 1.

[PaulNewman]

Add UMass-Boston to the list.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

There will be more, but also don't be surprised at some that won't make this decision.

The balance of hurting enrollment and an institution's future is a very difficult knife edge to be on for some schools.

[PaulNewman]

I was never hopeful about a real season being played, but IMO one can feel a definite shift over the past 3-5 days, with increasing anxiety about the NBA's plan, pessimism about the NFL, and especially the building news going in the wrong direction re: NCAA football.  A plan can sound good and well thought out as long as the variables remain static, but nothing about this crisis so far has been static.  It's not that hard to come up with a plan to test and isolate one or two cases, but as soon as there are a handful of cases, or far more than that already at places as influentially huge as Alabama, Clemson and Texas, there is no way to contain fast enough or well enough before moving forward just seems too daunting.  It's hard to see how D3 soccer is going to happen if D1 football doesn't happen.  I wouldn't be surprised if in the next couple of weeks we start hearing real doubts about the NCAA D1 bball season.

I suppose, if the NCAA allows it, that some D3s could try to forge ahead, but as more schools announce no Fall sports, then the logistics of who you will play and what such teams will do once a few of their own players test + will likely make those schools ask themselves what they are doing. 

It is hard to believe what we are going through, and it is certainly devastating if the trend-line continues for all the student-athletes looking forward to their final season, their first season, and everything in between...not to mention all the disruption to their educational experiences and all the rest.

I also would not be hopeful about other NESCACs.  Some may not agree with the Bowdoin move, or a move this soon, but once a few others join them, what's in it for a few to push forward, and for what exactly if the season is dramatically reduced and with no playoffs/tournament?  Just sticking with Maine, I'm not sure I can envision Bates or Colby bucking the Bowdoin decision.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I don't agree with your last paragraph, though there are parts I do agree with (i.e. I think Bates and Colby going a different direction is a solid thought). I think some others will go in their own direction. Last Friday's statement by the NESCAC is clear they don't have a conference all on the same page. Some wouldn't be able to possibly play a full conference schedule anyway due to restrictions in their states (as they currently sit), so they were going to have to find a new way of doing things.

Yeah, schedules could be dramatically reduced. You may seem some opponents played multiple times. And playoffs and tournaments are likely the last thing administrations are thinking about in the grand scheme of things.

What is really in it for some of these institutions is complicated. Some are going to want to make sure to keep their student-athletes engaged and active in some capacity - even if it is mainly on campus. Some are going to be very conscious that losing students/enrollment could be a death-nail or the start of putting those nails in their institution's future. Others are going to be aware that if something does happen, they may not survive a lawsuit while others are wiling to risk that knowing they couldn't take the enrollment hit.

It is so complicated and each school, be damned the conference affiliation, is going to have to figure this out for themselves. Mathematically figuring out if an enrollment hit is something they can survive or bad PR, the list is really long.

My head hurts today just from the conversations I've had that have all been different.

[fishercats]

Just one caveat on the Bowdoin decision that seems to be getting lost in various forums and news pieces - this seems in large part driven by a bigger decision of how the college is returning to operations. With limited on-campus presence (only freshman, transfers, students who can't take classes remotely, senior honors students, residential life staff), it seems that they really precluded themselves from returning to sports (and probably other extra-curricular activities)...i.e., if students-athletes aren't on campus, how can they justify engaging in athletic competitions.

It does not appear that this was a decision based upon the risks of engaging in athletic activities.

What will be interesting is the ramifications and trickle-down impact on those colleges who do decide to return to campus and engage in athletics.

[PaulNewman]

Just one caveat on the Bowdoin decision that seems to be getting lost in various forums and news pieces - this seems in large part driven by a bigger decision of how the college is returning to operations. With limited on-campus presence (only freshman, transfers, students who can't take classes remotely, senior honors students, residential life staff), it seems that they really precluded themselves from returning to sports (and probably other extra-curricular activities)...i.e., if students-athletes aren't on campus, how can they justify engaging in athletic competitions.

It does not appear that this was a decision based upon the risks of engaging in athletic activities.

What will be interesting is the ramifications and trickle-down impact on those colleges who do decide to return to campus and engage in athletics.

Good points.

Kenyon is planning to have a mostly normal Fall semester with all or most students, with a few changes like skipping a Fall break, classes and residential life ending by Nov 24, having finals remotely in December, and a start of Spring semester in early February.  Website talks about phasing in athletes beginning around Aug 10th but also notes that the NCAC has yet to finalize schedules. 

"Athletic schedules remain to be determined by the North Coast Athletic Conference. In accordance with NCAA guidelines for Division III athletics, teams will be allowed to practice beginning August 10. With that date in mind, we are developing a phased move-in schedule and the implementation of specific health and safety measures for fall student-athletes. We expect updates from the conference in the coming weeks."

The above plans are now a week old, so who knows if the most recent trends will impact the tentative plan.  At any rate, an announced plan obviously is reversible, especially if the reverse is towards not having a near-full student population on campus and not having Fall athletic seasons.  Interaction effects, if any, between schools and in reaction to what other schools do, will be interesting to watch.  And also interesting will be what the NCAA decides about sanctioning play and a tournament.  I can't imagine that most players and coaches will be highly motivated if there are no conference or national titles to shoot for.

The whole thing sucks and is messy, and there are no easy answers.  What a dreadful year, and there are still six full months to go.

[PlaySimple]

This forum has a lot more information and details than the women's forum. I posted in the women's forum re Bowdoin but I should have checked here beforehand.

I've been waiting to hear what the UAA stance and the member schools of the UAA are deciding what to do about all of this. With how geographically dispersed the schools in the UAA are, they'll have a tougher time with things.

Forgive me if this was discussed earlier in this thread, but is anyone privy to what the thinking of the UAA is at this point. I posted ↓ in the women's forum and am curious if anyone has heard of anything similar to this:

"I have heard various unconfirmed rumors that since the UAA is such a geographically dispersed conference, that travel is going to be minimized. One idea being floated to minimize travel will be that the schools may become temporary members of conferences within the individual schools' regions for the short-term. From what I have heard this is only one of many options that are being considered.

I don't anticipate that decisions will be made by the end of this month but I would look for some more concrete details, from all schools and all conferences, to be known by the middle of July at the latest."

[WUPHF]

Temporary members of conferences within the individual schools regions? 

How is that even possible on any level?

I do think the UAA could consider playing a reduced conference schedule, particularly if they want to avoid flights.

Washington University plays Emory, Carnegie Mellon, Case Western Reserve and Chicago
Chicago plays Rochester, Emory, Case Western Reserve and Washington University

No one wants to drive 600-700 miles in a charter bus, but this is more practical than cancelling the season.

I would have to take the time to work out the details, but I think you could build a four-opponent conference season, particularly if you utilize Thanksgiving week for a long two-game road trip.  I think the postseason gets cancelled before the start of the semester, but that is probably just me.

[PlaySimple]

Temporary members of conferences within the individual schools regions? 

How is that even possible on any level?

It doesn't sound possible or feasible to me to me either. Perhaps "temporary members" was not the correct wording. More accurately, rather, would be that the UAA schools mostly populate their schedules with teams from conferences in their geographic region.

Carnegie Mellon and CWRU are pretty close in proximity but they're also close to the schools in the OAC and the NCAC. Chicago is close to a lot of the schools in the CCIW and WIAC. Emory is close to many schools in the Southern Athletic Association. Wash U is also somewhat close to some of the schools in the SAA and the CCIW. You get the idea. Some of those mentioned schools are affiliate members of other conferences for other sports already so it may not be that big of a stretch to do this in the short-term if needed.

Washington University plays Emory, Carnegie Mellon, Case Western Reserve and Chicago
Chicago plays Rochester, Emory, Case Western Reserve and Washington University

Brandeis and NYU?

I'm also starting to think that this season could possibly end up just being a season of games with no championships - either individual conferences or NCAA. If there are championships at the NCAA level, would regional championships be a possibility?

There are too many unknowns at this point.

[WUPHF]

I would have to work on the details, but...

NYU and Brandeis could get games against each other and Rochester and Carnegie Mellon and Case Western.

Carnegie Mellon and Case Western Reserve may have to play five games.

Teams could also play double-headers.  I think it could be relatively fun to play Emory on Saturday afternoon as scheduled and on early Sunday morning.

I know what you mean about the possibility of playing locally.  But teams would have to cancel or have other games cancelled to open up opportunities for the UAA teams to work in.

[Buck O.]

Temporary members of conferences within the individual schools regions? 

How is that even possible on any level?

It doesn't sound possible or feasible to me to me either. Perhaps "temporary members" was not the correct wording. More accurately, rather, would be that the UAA schools mostly populate their schedules with teams from conferences in their geographic region.

Why is it impossible?  Take WashU, for example.  They're already CCIW members for football, and they've posted a 2020 schedule for soccer that already includes three CCIW teams.  So, to implement this plan, they'd only need to replace six UAA opponents (keeping Chicago on the schedule, since that's a day trip) with the other six CCIW teams. and presto!  No overnight travel!  I'm sure there would be some logistical challenges that I'm not appreciating, but I don't see that as impossible.  They wouldn't be eligible for the autobid to the NCAA tournament, but I don't think there would be a tournament anyway. 

Chicago could do likewise.  They don't have a 2020 schedule posted, but they played four CCIW teams last year.

I doubt that any of this comes to fruition.  I think the more likely outcome is that the soccer season is moved to the spring (and yes, I know that also presents a bunch of logistical problems).