Covid Impacts on Upcoming Season

[ThankstoJack]

Thanks for the comment on Fall 2020 Status of Play Updates. You are correct; it is lot of work. The most difficult part may be trying to decipher the statements from the schools. If they leave a bit of wiggle room, whether it's cynically or not, I don't feel it's my place to declare them out. That does bring up the issue of monitoring for changes. I monitor all the conference and individual RSS feeds but if the update isn't posted on the athletics pages, I don't see it. I will take a look at those you mentioned and update as necessary.

As for St. Joseph's (Maine), I missed that they are exploring competition with other colleges and universities. When I looked yesterday, NVU-Johnson, NVU-Lyndon, and Maine-Presque Isle all specifically declared they were looking for competition this fall. Also, Colby's last COVID related statement on their athletics pages was in March. Their campus wide plan notes in their "Athletics" section that they are "exploring possibilities for a more limited, local competition schedule". So, there are possibilities. Not exactly short trips though.

I agree on UR. From a distance I can't see why they are taking that position when the UAA and virtually all other New York D-III's will not be playing in 2020.

With all the conference statements Wed., Thu., and Fri. it became impossible to maintain the individual institutions. And now with considerably more than half saying no Fall 2020 play I decided might be better to create a (shorter) list of who hasn't closed the door rather than who is definitely not playing in 2020.  That stopped when my wife popped in and said, "Why are you working on the website so much? I though you told me the season was going to be cancelled. .

As for the spring, I would love to see it, but the resource issue seems to be a high hurdle. I mentioned the possibility of a spring season to my often injured, former D-III soccer playing daughter and her immediate comment was about the already overworked athletic trainers. However, I will note that most of this week's conference statements about postponing/cancelling the fall season do state fairly emphatically their desire for some sort of spring soccer, and other fall sports.

In any case if anyone sees errors please let me know at d3soccer.com@gmail.com.

[PaulNewman]

+k ThankstoJack!

I agree/concede that it's not your role nor mine to out-think the languaging, although the exact words used are interesting to look at and compare.  That said, I do think there is a major difference between a school saying they are open to considering some limited local competition and schools/conferences intending to still have something more akin to a regular season (like I guess the MIAA is still planning/hoping for).  The former in my mind is hesitant and limited enough to conclude that the school is conceding that at best they'll try to put something together so players can have a taste of competitive play with no illusions about anything resembling a regular season.  Colby, for instance, could talk cross-town Thomas into a couple of games and maybe a game or two with another school like Presque Isle.

And thanks for clarifying you just had not gotten to the OAC and MAC yet, as opposed to not listing them for some other reason.  I agree that at this point a shorter lists of who is keeping the door ajar and/or still planning full steam ahead may be easier.

Thanks again for the time you're devoting.

[College Soccer Observer]

Given the campus protocols Middlebury will be operating under, I cannot see any way that they could do anything more than a game or two in late October if everything goes perfectly.

[PlaySimple]

CCIW........

https://cciw.org/news/2020/7/27/general-cciw-postpones-fall-2020-competition.aspx

[PaulNewman]

From UMass-Boston on June 22 (and Bowdoin on June 25) to 329 by July 27.  Pretty stunning.

Calvin still alive, though!

[Vasoccer757]

USA south just pulled the plug on fall sports happening. That conference has 18 Members (some are women only).

https://www.usasouth.net/general/2019-20/releases/20200721h1jgh9

[Dubuquer]

WIAC pulls the plug on fall sports: https://wiacsports.com/news/2020/7/27/general-wiac-fall-statement-on-covid-19.aspx

The ARC, however, chooses to move forward: https://rollrivers.com/news/2020/7/27/football-american-rivers-conference-to-proceed-with-conference-competition-for-fall-2020.aspx

We will see if they are able to pull that off.

[Ejay]

NJAC suspends all fall sport contests and league championships though they "will pursue every avenue within the NCAA governance structure to explore the provision of a competitive season for the fall sport student-athletes during the spring 2021 semester".

IMHO, this is the death knell for D3 sports this fall.  The NJAC's full members are entirely NJ state schools with large percentages of in-state students.  And NJ has one of the lowest current infection/spread rates in the country. In other words, it's one of the safest states and even they're calling it a day.

https://njacsports.com/news/2020/7/27/football-statement-by-the-new-jersey-athletic-conference-regarding-fall-sports.aspx

[fishercats]

Expecting a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Athletics fall sports announcement sometime today. Just saw some news about MIAA football starting to leak.

https://www.woodtv.com/ncaa/ncaa-football/miaa-canceled-football-in-fall/#:~:text=GRAND%20RAPIDS%2C%20Mich.,to%20114%20days%20of%20practice.

I am seeing at least three big questions now:
- Do NCAA and conferences move the season to the spring?
- What are teams allowed to do in the Fall?
- What will be the impact on eligibility, especially this year's seniors. Specifically, will anyone really stay around for a 5th year?

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

DIII has already announced a waiver for eligibility. If teams don't play 50% of their allotted games, the waiver is good across the board.

I think teams are allowed to do some team activities. DIII moved the system to "days" instead of "weeks" to allow more flexibility. Ii don't know how this impacts things as I haven't had time to take it for a deep dive, but it would seem with the "days" option that teams could use some time this fall for team activities.

Spring is going to be nearly impossible even if COVID wasn't a factor.
- There isn't a school in DIII that has the athletic training, game day, sports information, and other staffing to handle that many sports playing games and having practices in a day let alone a week.
- Now add in facility challenges in terms of locker rooms and fields and it gets even more complicated.
- Add in anyone who has football and lacrosse and you can imagine the challenges. And football is about the only one with one game a week - the time lost to make sure a field is ready for one sport's game kills practices. Johns Hopkins (plenty of money) has one field for football, men's and women's soccer, field hockey, and men's and women's lacrosse (which also happens to be DI).
- Also many fall sports won't be able to get on their fields in the spring ... can you imagine soccer trying to get on fields especially if they don't have turf in February or March in most parts of this country (for DIII)?
- Of course, many schools also rotate locker rooms (lacrosse may use football for example).

NOW add in COVID restrictions or challenges which may be improved but might not be gone come February or so. That means cleaning down locker rooms and training rooms ... it means some places using locker rooms for training rooms to spread out tables (I'm aware of a few schools that have considered this).

And we haven't even consider the winter sports that may still be ongoing or pushed themselves ... adding to the staffing challenges along with facility pressures and the like. Men's and women's basketball having to deal with women's volleyball wanting to practice ... and add in men's volleyball for some schools. Ice hockey programs will take up a lot of resources that spring and fall sports would need. Swimming and diving may be the easiest to deal with for a lot of reasons, but there is still staffing needs that will take away from other sports.

I'll add one more thought: the spring sports already got hammered last spring with COVID. By adding fall to spring, the spring athletes are once again getting the short end of the stick. Not only because the fall sports are taking some of the spotlight, but because of the pressures that will be on everyone to make it work diminishing the spring sports a bit - maybe taking their practice times or best availability and such. And I am sure the spring athletes may have a bit of negative feelings that the fall sports are getting all this effort to make their seasons work while they got left gutted in March.

And then you have two-sport athletes who now are left with having to make a choice.

I appreciate that schools and conferences are saying "we will try and play in the spring," but I think it might be a bit of smoke and trying to make it seem like a nice thing. I just don't think it is realistic. Schools can't afford to bring in the staffing to make it work. Schools don't have the facilities to make it happen. There isn't enough time in the day for all the practices (especially if a game is thrown in there).

I just don't see it happening... though I am sure some will try hard. I just hope they don't anger athletes by saying they will move things to the spring when they likely know this won't work.

[NEPAFAN]

Landmark Fall is done...just brutal.....

[PlaySimple]

I am seeing at least three big questions now:
- Do NCAA and conferences move the season to the spring?
- What are teams allowed to do in the Fall?
- What will be the impact on eligibility, especially this year's seniors. Specifically, will anyone really stay around for a 5th year?

d-mac gave a very thorough explanation of why he believes that D3 fall athletics will have a challenging task in moving the season to the spring. I tend to agree with about all that he said. While it is a good thought, it will be nearly impossible to logistically pull it off.  There may be some schools/conferences that have the facilities and personnel to make it work but I would think that those would be in the minority. There are plenty of D3 athletes, though, that will be fine with a short season if that is all that will be possible. Many athletes just want to compete. If it becomes obvious that a school or conference will be able to have the fall sports compete in the spring, I do hope that the athletes are not strung along and the information is conveyed to them early.

d-mac also touched on the two-sport athletes and having to make a choice. I see that as difficult and it will also leave some teams short-handed. A good number of soccer players and football players participate in track and field in the spring. There area also some football players that play lacrosse. There are the field hockey players that play lacrosse. Also, look at the cross country runners. Cross country is a fall sport but just about all cross country runners participate in track. Many distance runners prefer XC to track but there is no way that XC gets moved to the spring. That sport will just be scratched this year. The examples go on and on.

Lastly, fishercats, you asked this question: "What will be the impact on eligibility, especially this year's seniors. Specifically, will anyone really stay around for a 5th year?"

To answer that, I can't see any D3 athlete staying around for another year just because they have the year of eligibility remaining. Where that will come into play, though, will be the athlete that may not be graduating in 4 years and will be around for a 5th year for academic reasons anyway. I would think that the rule will also apply to those starting graduate school. If a graduate program allows the time for athletic participation there will be some that might participate. This is fairly common at the D1 level. I would also think that if any athlete is talented enough to play at the D1 level and is attending graduate school at a D1 school that they would be able to use that eligibility at the D1 school. The athlete wold more than likely be participating as a walk-athlete, though, and not a scholarship athlete. Joe Burrow upon graduation from Ohio State did famously quarterback LSU to a National Championship and won a Heisman Trophy for himself while he was a graduate student but that example is a huge exception. It is rare that a D3 athlete would be able to win a scholarship at a D1 school as a 5th year participant but it could be done as there are many D3 athletes that are talented enough to play at a D1 school). But to reiterate, again, no student-athlete will stay at a D3 school for a 5th year for athletic purposes only.

[College Soccer Observer]

100% disagree with the last sentence.  Many will take a semester off so that they can return and play next fall.  Underclassmen will do the same thing.  Most of my son's teammates are planning on taking off a semester at some point, and 75% of the seniors will do so in order to compete next fall.

[Ejay]

75% of Middlebury seniors are not graduating on time so they can play one more season of soccer?? That's surprising.  And what do you mean for about underclassman taking a semester off "at some point"? So assuming things return to normal, or somewhat normal, the Soph's will still think about taking a spring semester off at some point ust to get the extra year?

[Ommadawn]

100% disagree with the last sentence.  Many will take a semester off so that they can return and play next fall.  Underclassmen will do the same thing.  Most of my son's teammates are planning on taking off a semester at some point, and 75% of the seniors will do so in order to compete next fall.

This is consistent with what I've heard, too, particularly among rising seniors.