The Big Ten will reconsider its decision not to postpone bankruptcy.
In an open letter published by the conference on Wednesday, Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren said “the vote by the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors (COP / C) was overwhelming in support of the postponement of falls and will not be re-examined. ”
“The decision was thorough and deliberative, and based on sound feedback, guidance and advice from medical experts,” Warren said. “Despite the decision to suspend bankruptcy sports, we will continue our work to find a way forward that creates a healthy and safe environment for all Big Ten student-athletes to participate in the sports they love. in a way that helps prevent the spread of COVID -19 and protects both student-athletes and the surrounding communities. ”
Warren, who had not previously stated the reasons behind the conference’s decision to suspend sports, wrote on Wednesday that the primary reasons behind the decisions included the amount of positive COVID-19 cases around the country, the Unknown about the long-term effects of the virus and the inability to adhere to physical distance guidelines when playing contact sports.
Transmission rates continue at an alarming rate with little indication from medical experts that our campuses, communities or country can gain control over the spread of the virus prior to competition.
While our teams began to prepare for intensive practices, many of our medical staff did not think that the interventions we had planned would be sufficient to reduce the potential spread, even with very regular testing.
While the general student body is returning to campus, spread to student athletes could re-introduce infection into our athletic community.
There’s just too much we do not know about the virus, recovery from infection and long term effects. Although the data on cardiomyopathy are preliminary and incomplete, the uncertain risk was currently unacceptable.
Concerns about contact tracing still exist, including the inability to social distance in contact sports according to the guidelines of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While processes for risk mitigation (e.g., physical distance, face covering, appropriate hygiene, etc.) across campus can be implemented for the student body population, it became clear that these processes could not be fully implemented in contact sports.
With the onset of full contact practice and competitions, it became increasingly clear that contact tracking and quarantine risked frequent and significant disruptions to the practice and competition calendar.
Accurate and widely available rapid testing can help reduce those concerns, but access to accurate testing is currently limited.
Major concerns also exist about the test delivery chain, in general, for many of our institutions.
“Financial considerations have not affected the COP / C decision, as the proposal will have enormous negative financial implications,” Warren said. “We understand the passion of many student-athletes and their families who were disappointed by the decision, but also know that there are many who have a lot of worries and fears regarding the pandemic.”
While Warren’s letter on Wednesday did not specify the conference’s plans for a winter or spring football season, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Tuesday that the conference is aimed at returning to football in January.
“Going forward, we will continue to build on the framework that our medical professionals have developed over the past five months, while taking the opportunity to learn more about the virus and its effects,” Warren said. “While we expand on a plan to engage our student-athletes as soon as it is safe to do so, we will maintain our focus on creating protocols and standards established and established by our medical advisors who respond to the medical concerns evaluated by our COP / C. ”
To this end, the Big Ten Conference has assembled a Return to Competition Task Force, consisting of members of the COP / C, sports medicine and university medical staff, athletic directors, head coaches, faculty athletic representatives and senior women managers to plan for the proceeds of the bankruptcy sports competition as soon as possible.
“When evaluating winter / spring models, we will examine many factors, including the number of football matches that can be reasonably played from a health perspective in an entire calendar year, while maintaining a premium competitive experience for our student athletes, who finish at a Big Ten Championship. The Big Ten Conference will continue to gather feedback from student-athletes, families and other constituencies and will remain in active conversations with its television partners about all future plans. ”
Warren’s letter comes after parents of football players from six Big Ten schools, including Ohio State, sent letters to the conference asking that the conference reconsider its decision to postpone the football season and offer more transparency as to why the decision was made.
