As colleges cancel fall sports, UC Davis and Sac State wait for conference decisions

The fall future of NCAA sports in the Sacramento area looks doubtful as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spike.

Both Sacramento State University and University of California, Davis are in the Big Sky Conference for football, which announced in May it would leave the decision to resume play up to the schools. UC Davis plays in the Big West for all other sports.

As of now, both universities plan on having their seasons continue pending approval from county public health officials and with safety guidelines suggested by these officials.

Sacramento State Athletic Director Mark Orr said there have not been mandatory practices and he has been communicating with coaches to ensure proper safety precautions are taking place.

According to UC Davis Athletic Diretor Kevin Blue, student-athletes are able to do limited individual voluntary workouts in the facilities after being medically cleared.

Both directors said they would listen to and take the advice of medical professionals into consideration for their teams.

The Pac-12 and Big Ten conferences announced sports would be restricted to conference play only, which creates some schedule changes for Sacramento State as it was slated to play football at Washington, and the women’s soccer team had road games against Stanford and Cal Berkeley.

“We’re not sure yet what the schedule for fall sports will look like and we’re not sure yet at the implications of any kind of delays on people’s plans for graduation and their academic calendars,” Blue said.

The National College Players Association is pushing back against restarting sports.

In an April 9 news release, the NCPA requested the NCAA enact a COVID-19 legislation that would offer financial assistance to student-athletes, especially those whose scholarships and applicable medical coverage may be reduced or eliminated.

The organization, which lobbies for athletes’ rights, is also calling for college sports to be canceled out of concern for the health and safety of student-athletes.

“We’re watching the @NCAA fade out of power. It’s final vile act: failing to enforce safety standards to protect players in a historic pandemic. Power 5 conferences slowly breaking away before our very eyes will not outrun athletes’ pursuit of justice,” the NCPA said in a July 9 tweet.

The NCAA previously granted an extra year of eligibility for spring sports athletes whose seasons were cut short in March, which the NCPA lobbied for.

Blue pushed back against the notion that colleges are rushing to play games before it’s safe.

“We are operating in strict adherence to the state and county public health guidelines,” he said. “If they say we cannot play, we won’t. But as long as we have approval we plan to continue.”

Recruiting has also been affected by the coronavirus. Coaches are limited to online communications and statistics research when they’re considering which players to recruit.

New recruits face a difficult situation, as current players may decide to stay another year if the NCAA gives fall athletes an extra year of eligibility, as they did with spring athletes.

“My hope is that the NCAA grants the same relief, should we need it,” Orr said. “If athletes decide to stay another year, we can hopefully make something work so they may continue their collegiate careers.”

Orr said if the NCAA allows flexibility with the number of scholarships they can give out, they will honor the scholarships of current and and incoming student-athletes.

“We don’t want to take away scholarships from anyone,” he continued.

Blue said, “We honor the majority of scholarships regardless of being active. They depend on the athlete’s time of graduation and eligibility.”

Notable sports cancellations include the Ivy League conference, which became the first Division I conference to suspend all fall sports, the Centennial Conference, the Patriot League and Morehouse College.

Last week, Stanford announced it was cutting 11 varsity sports after this season because of financial issues due to the pandemic.

Fall quarter starts Sept. 30 at UC Davis. While some students will be on campus to attend classes, most classes will be available online and few classes will be taught in person. Sacramento State decided in May to have most of its fall classes taught online.

This story was originally published July 16, 2020 at 10:57 AM.