The Ivy League made a big decision on Wednesday to play no sports in the fall, including football. The league becomes the first Division I conference to eliminate fall sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There has been no decision about the Ivy League’s winter and spring sports or whether fall sports could be played in the spring of 2021.
“The campus policies make it impractical for competition to occur, at least through the end of the fall semester,” executive director Robin Harris said to ESPN. She went on to say that’s the reason the decision was made to not have any fall sports. Ultimately, when the eight schools announced their polices for the fall, the league realized sports in the fall couldn’t happen, and Harris said “we wanted to make sure the student-athletes were aware of the outcome. It’s certainly the right decision for the Ivy League, but it’s difficult.”
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The Ivy League’s decision is not a big surprise considering the decision it made in March. At that time, the league canceled its conference basketball tournament due to coronavirus concerns, which led to other conferences making the same decision. It also led to NCAA canceling the basketball tournament altogether.
“We understand and share the disappointment with student-athletes, coaches and fans who will not be able to participate in these tournaments,” Harris said at the time. “Regrettably, the information and recommendations presented to us from public health authorities and medical professionals have convinced us that this is the most prudent decision.”
The Ivy League might be the first Division I conference to call off fall sports, but it likely won’t be the last. With growing cases of COVID-19 being reported all over the country and the college football season scheduled to start at the end of August. A number of conferences have a tough decision to make in the coming weeks. Morehouse College in Georgia was one of the first schools to announces its football season won’t happen this fall. Some schools, such as Alabama and Ohio State have football players who have tested positive for COVID-19 after having group workouts.
College football fans will not be happy if there is no 2020 season. And while things don’t look great right now, only time will tell if college sports all over the country this fall will be silent.
