Covid Impacts on Upcoming Season

[Pat Coleman]

OAC just announced specific play dates/times for a Spring 2021 schedule. 9 conference games, 1 final (or consolation game for 3-10), so 10 games total. Saves a year of eligibility and gets the seniors one more crack at a conference title.

https://oac.prestosports.com/MISC/COVID-19_2020/Fall_sports_springs_schedules

Fake news! D-mac said conferences planning to play fall sports in the spring weren't "working in reality". 

The OAC can announce these games, but we are a long way from seeing them happen. These schools haven't even had students on campus yet. It seems abundantly optimistic to announce something in mid-August.

[Ejay]

OAC just announced specific play dates/times for a Spring 2021 schedule. 9 conference games, 1 final (or consolation game for 3-10), so 10 games total. Saves a year of eligibility and gets the seniors one more crack at a conference title.

https://oac.prestosports.com/MISC/COVID-19_2020/Fall_sports_springs_schedules

Fake news! D-mac said conferences planning to play fall sports in the spring weren't "working in reality". 

The OAC can announce these games, but we are a long way from seeing them happen. These schools haven't even had students on campus yet. It seems abundantly optimistic to announce something in mid-August.

I think you're missing the point.  It's been suggested there's no way fall sports could play in the spring because of a shortage of trainers, fields, athletes, etc, etc, etc.  Clearly, the OAC is saying they can make it happen. Of course, Covid could throw a wrench into that, but we're not talking about Covid.

[Pat Coleman]

OAC just announced specific play dates/times for a Spring 2021 schedule. 9 conference games, 1 final (or consolation game for 3-10), so 10 games total. Saves a year of eligibility and gets the seniors one more crack at a conference title.

https://oac.prestosports.com/MISC/COVID-19_2020/Fall_sports_springs_schedules

Fake news! D-mac said conferences planning to play fall sports in the spring weren't "working in reality". 

The OAC can announce these games, but we are a long way from seeing them happen. These schools haven't even had students on campus yet. It seems abundantly optimistic to announce something in mid-August.

I think you're missing the point.  It's been suggested there's no way fall sports could play in the spring because of a shortage of trainers, fields, athletes, etc, etc, etc.  Clearly, the OAC is saying they can make it happen. Of course, Covid could throw a wrench into that, but we're not talking about Covid.

I'm not missing the point. (By the way, I agree with Dave's point.)

[Pat Coleman]

I think a number of fall teams may try and cobble something nice this spring to help the seniors. Maybe a home-and-home with someone near by, but any resemblance of any reasonable schedule or competition ... let alone NCAA championships ... isn't going to happen.

I can say this much: Fall Championships will be canceled this week. Either the NCAA BOG is going to do it or the Division will do it. And "canceled" not "postponed." Coaches can make all the effort they want, but they need to be realistic and to do so would require them to see the bigger picture outside of their sport.

I still agree with this, and I've said the same thing over on the D3football.com side of the house. The thought of two home games in football -- doable, for sure. The thought of a national championship for a fall sport in the spring was never going to be realistic at the D-III level.

[midwest]

My just-graduated D3 player was talking about the younger guys training, lifting etc. without any fall competitions. He was relieved that he was no longer in school, as he said the prospect of training without competition seemed absurd. He said he loved his team and being together with the guys, but that he trained to compete and to win. If there was no match to look forward to, he didn't really see much point in spending several hours a day training.

Which illustrates why I, his parent, was a competent but not recruited athlete, since in this situation, I would have been happy to go out and just practice with my friends. He, in contrast, has always been driven to push himself in order to perform. Different mind sets.

[Stryker]

My daughter  has been back at her school since August 10 and already the head coach is in quarantine with her family for possible exposure outside of the University and the Assistant Coach has been diagnosed with Covid. One player came down 2 days ago with fever and other symptoms; Covid test came back negative and they are hoping that it is not a false negative. That player is quarantining until a second test result returns. All of this with limited interaction between the team. Can't imagine how disruptive the season would have been if they had gone ahead with the season.

[PlaySimple]

This is old news from August 20 and I am not sure that it has been verified. Basically the rumor is that there will be a NCAA tournament in the spring for D1 with 32 teams each. To the surprise of no one, there will not be a tournament in the spring for D2 or D3.

Most that I know that play D3, particularly the seniors that will be moving on and definitely not playing in the fall of 2021, will just be content to play some games in the spring. Even if that is only 5 or 10 games. Most just want to play something and couldn't care less about there being an NCAA championship. The OAC seems to have a good plan for the spring of league games only with a championship game at the end. I hope it works out for the league but I have my doubts.

https://www.soccerwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/ncaa-rumor.png

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

As discussed before, DIII canceled their championships and that word was used on purpose. And the idea of any substantial - or even half - season in the spring is really not realistic. More and more schools and conferences are coming to that realization, finally (from what I am being told in many, many conversations I have across the country).

I feel for the seniors, I really do. Though, that started back in March when winter sports championships were pulled with some athletes just about to start their final competitions and spring championships and seasons canceled just as those seasons were ramping up.

BTW - DI thoughts on getting spring championships is starting to hit the road blocks many of us already knew existed. What people forget is how many sites and people are involved in these things. I was given a number of about 320 sites for DI, DII, DIII fall championships in a normal year. Can you imagine trying to pull that off during spring championships even if only DI is added in? Not to mention, some of the actual sites that were available originally may no longer be an option in the spring.

And we haven't discussed the point that we don't know the landscape of the coronavirus next month let alone next spring.

Things have got to be taken one day, one week at a time.

[PlaySimple]

I posted the following on another forum. It is about a D2 school but it is worth posting here.

The New York Institute of Technology has announced that it is suspending athletics for at least two years. The press release specifically states "Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the costs associated with it, New York Institute of Technology will suspend all of its NCAA Division II athletics programs for at least two years." It is also stated "all athletic scholarships will be honored for New York Tech students so that they can continue with their academic programs and graduate on schedule. Currently, close to 250 student-athletes are enrolled at New York Tech."

There is more here:

https://nyitbears.com/news/2020/8/20/general-new-york-tech-to-suspend-its-ncaa-programs.aspx

I certainly hope that this is not a developing trend but many schools are going to take a long and hard look at the role of athletics and how it relates the educational experience. I have previously stated that participation in athletics or, at the very least, club sports or intramurals, is important to the complete development of an individual. That said, some schools may very well decide that athletics are best served in a club atmosphere at the school or elsewhere. Perhaps akin to what is primarily done in Europe. I am not sure that this will be the case in the near immediate future but it is entirely conceivable that many schools and universities will head that way in the future.

[blue_jays]

I posted the following on another forum. It is about a D2 school but it is worth posting here.

The New York Institute of Technology has announced that it is suspending athletics for at least two years. The press release specifically states "Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the costs associated with it, New York Institute of Technology will suspend all of its NCAA Division II athletics programs for at least two years." It is also stated "all athletic scholarships will be honored for New York Tech students so that they can continue with their academic programs and graduate on schedule. Currently, close to 250 student-athletes are enrolled at New York Tech."

There is more here:

https://nyitbears.com/news/2020/8/20/general-new-york-tech-to-suspend-its-ncaa-programs.aspx

I certainly hope that this is not a developing trend but many schools are going to take a long and hard look at the role of athletics and how it relates the educational experience. I have previously stated that participation in athletics or, at the very least, club sports or intramurals, is important to the complete development of an individual. That said, some schools may very well decide that athletics are best served in a club atmosphere at the school or elsewhere. Perhaps akin to what is primarily done in Europe. I am not sure that this will be the case in the near immediate future but it is entirely conceivable that many schools and universities will head that way in the future.

Doubt it becomes much of a trend, smaller schools can be very dependent on athletics to provide steady enrollment every year. Tuition, room, and board is how these schools will survive, they can't afford to get rid of a significant portion of their student body. In D1, I guarantee there will be more cuts to non-revenue sports, which could create Title IX complications. Look for these smaller D1 schools to drop down to D2 or D3 status for cost savings in the next few years.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I don't think the NYIT thing will become a thing. As stated already, most schools in DIII need athletics to keep enrollment up. If we see suspensions of athletics, it will be actual cancelations because the entire school is shutting down. That will happen more and more as the next 6-12 months unfolds.

[PlaySimple]

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.

I am revisiting this because I was thinking about the current situations of many athletes that I personally know.

In a Sports Illustrated article, Barry Alvarez, the AD at Wisconsin, hit the nail on the head. Granted, the article is from April but it is timely.

"What we tried to do was encourage our seniors to go ahead and, if you're going to graduate, graduate and move on with your life," athletic director Barry Alvarez said Wednesday on his monthly radio show on WIBA-AM. "We appreciate everything that you've done. But move forward. The future is in question, and we can't promise you anything."

While this applies to a D1 school, and in D1 soccer has become a spring sport this year, it is sage advice. Wisconsin will not be allowing spring athletes to return in 2021 and neither will the Ivies. I expect a lot of other universities to do likewise. The exception to this that I see will be those athletes that graduate with eligibility remaining and start graduate school in a program that might afford them the ability to also participate in athletics.

Link to SI article: https://www.si.com/college/2020/04/09/wisconsin-not-allow-spring-student-athletes-return

[WUPHF]

I agree with Barry Alvarez as far as his advice, but I disagree with a policy that prohibits students from returning.  In my mind, students should be able to choose what works best for them.

I have to think that part of the motivation is to keep students from taking a gap semester or gap year.

[PlaySimple]

I agree with Barry Alvarez as far as his advice, but I disagree with a policy that prohibits students from returning.  In my mind, students should be able to choose what works best for them.

I have to think that part of the motivation is to keep students from taking a gap semester or gap year.

I'm pretty sure that what Alvarez meant was that students would not be able to return as athletes. If a student has course work to finish up then I'm sure that they would not be prohibited from returning to a university. If a student-athlete has played four seasons of a sport, then I can't disagree with stance of not allowing them to return as athletes.

[Another Mom]

Didn't Justin Serpone just say (somewhere  -- NESJ?-- can't remember) that every one of his seniors were deferring and coming back next year?