NCAA President Warns ‘The Data Point In The Wrong Direction’ For Fall College Sports

Enlarge this image

The extent to which college sports will return this year is an open question. «If there is to be college sports in the fall, we need to get a much better handle on the pandemic,» warns the NCAA’s president.

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

hide caption

toggle caption

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Along with updated guidelines on how colleges might resume sports in the coming year, the NCAA posted a graph illustrating the assumptions it had made previously about the trajectory of the virus in the U.S.

NCAA

hide caption

toggle caption

NCAA

The new guidelines say a return to college sports had earlier assumed that national testing strategies and enhanced contact tracing, among other things, would be in place. Although testing and contact tracing infrastructure have expanded, «the variations in approach to reopening America for business and recreation have correlated with a considerable spike in cases in recent weeks.»

The result, says the NCAA, is that testing must be a part of the strategy for returning to contact sports. It also notes the risks that returning to the athletic fields present: «group practice activities have the potential to significantly increase the risk of COVID-19 spread if proper distancing and/or masking practices are not implemented, and if air flow/ventilation is compromised.»

It also notes that asymptomatic spread is a particular concern for NCAA sports: most of the athletes are young adults who may not show symptoms themselves, but can spread the virus to others who are more vulnerable to COVID-19.

Already there have been outbreaks of the virus among college athletes who returned to campuses for training.

The Coronavirus Crisis
College Sports Falling Victim To Coronavirus And Financial Stresses

As infection rates continue to spike across the U.S., college sports conferences are beginning to alter their plans.

The Big Ten Conference says it will play a conference-only schedule this season, including football. The Ivy League said last week that it would not participate in fall sports at all.

The Southeastern Conference, which includes many powerhouse football teams in the South, says it will won’t make scheduling decisions until late July.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said this week that «the fact that we have seen an increase of cases in the last few weeks across our region is not a positive indicator.»

• COVID-19
• college sports
• NCAA