The National Junior College Athletic Association is expected to vote on Monday to move its season to the spring amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, according to The Athletic.
The decision will allow teams to start preseason practices on March 1, with an eight-game routine season starting at the end of the month and running through May. It will impact 512 schools, 54 of which have football programs, throughout 45 states in the nation.
[Coronavirus: How the sports world is responding to the pandemic] According to ESPN, other fall and winter sports likewise will be changed if the vote passes. Males and females basketball will start practice on Jan. 11 and begin their seasons later that month. Volleyball, fumbling, swimming and track will begin on Jan. 4..
The schedule modification marks just the current in the college sports world due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) More.
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” This plan gives our student-athletes the very best opportunity to have as much of a quality season in the spring for all sports, while also permitting a long time and engagement when enabled by their private institutions in the fall,” stated NJCAA president and CEO Dr. Christopher Parker, by means of ESPN.
The California Community College Athletic Association also authorized a vote on Thursday to move all of its 24 sports to the spring..
The decision will mark just the current schedule change due to the coronavirus in the college sports world. Both the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences announced that they will play conference-only schedules this fall. The Big 12 and the ACC will make their decisions about scheduling later this month, and the SECs choice is anticipated to be made in the “coming weeks.” The Ivy League canceled all fall sports completely, too.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey isnt optimistic about the upcoming season, either, saying on Saturday that his concern level is “high to extremely high” which “we require to all consider our behavior” if we desire sports to be played this year..
” We are lacking time to correct and get things right,” Sankey stated, “and as a society we owe it to each other to be as healthy as we can be.”.
There were more than 3.2 million validated cases of the coronavirus in the United States since Sunday afternoon, according to The New York Times, and almost 135,000 deaths attributed to it. The nation set a single-day record on Friday, too, taping more than 68,000 brand-new cases..
If the vote passes, according to ESPN, other fall and winter sports likewise will be adjusted. Guy and ladiess basketball will start practice on Jan. 11 and begin their seasons later that month. The choice will mark just the newest schedule adjustment due to the coronavirus in the college sports world. The Ivy League canceled all fall sports entirely, too.