SWAC playing it safe, cancels fall sports
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BVM) — With many universities across the nation cautious regarding the COVID-19 situation, athletic practices have been getting suspended indefinitely and classes have been getting converted to online-only format. On July 8, the Ivy League was the first NCAA Division I conference to cancel its fall sports.
After three more FCS conferences made the same decision, the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) followed suit, officially calling off fall sports on July 20.
“The basic protocols are face mask, social distancing, frequent hand washing, limited travel and avoidance of large groups,” Andrew Roberts, assistant commissioner for SWAC media relations, said. “None of the aforementioned can be achieved effectively while playing competitive sports.”
The conference released a statement saying that men’s and women’s cross country, women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and even football have been postponed until further notice. As of now, the plan is to move these sports into the 2021 spring semester. People within the conference have already begun to focus on scheduling matters for this to happen.
For football, the early proposal is for all SWAC teams to open up an eight-week training camp starting in Jan. 2021, and upon its conclusion, compete through a seven-game schedule. Six of the matchups would come directly from the SWAC, with the seventh game being an optional non-conference game.
Winter sports such as men’s and women’s basketball still remain unaffected up to this point.
“Basketball is several weeks away from its first official team practice and more than three months away from a competitive contest with outside competition,” Roberts said. “The SWAC decided it was premature to make a determination on basketball competition and other winter sport schedules.”
Other options were considered by the conference before the eventual cancelation of fall sports, but none seemed to meet the SWAC’s safety standards. A delay was reportedly discussed “in great detail” but the importance of the well-being of the entire campus community outweighed the need to travel and host athletic competition.
Coaches were well-incorporated into the decision, as the conference staff continually connected with them via virtual meetings.
“On those calls the coaches were tremendously supportive and understanding of the COVID-19 circumstances,” Roberts said. “The head coaches understood and confirmed their support for the best possible decision as a conference.”
With the integration of fall sports into the spring, many college athletic teams will be competing at the same time. The SWAC maintains that their campuses have the resources necessary to handle this busy time successfully, stating that administrators, facility management and coaches will work together to ensure a smooth spring.
For the athletes participating in the canceled fall sports, their eligibility is looking like it’ll remain the same. When they successfully complete their fall sport in the spring, then they will be back on track in terms of eligible years remaining.
As COVID-19 begins to take over the news once again, there is fear around the sports world that more conferences will begin to cancel their seasons, with a chance that the entirety of NCAA sports will be lost this fall. While the SWAC will be one conference not playing, they wanted others to know that this situation was not influenced by any other conference either having already done this, or currently considering it.
“The SWAC has been in regular communication with all other Division I conferences, however, each of our circumstances are different as it relates to sport sponsorship, geography, and membership diversity,” Roberts said.
