The Middle East Athletic Conference has suspended all fall sports indefinitely due to the current coronavirus pandemic, but has not determined whether fall schedules will carry over to the spring semester of 2021, the league announced Thursday.
The MEAC has not ruled out playing soccer and other sports in the spring and will continue to discuss the option, league sources told ESPN. A spring season poses potential challenges around scheduling logistics, player eligibility, recruits, and transfers, but the MEAC has yet to rule it out.
MEAC currently plans to continue the winter sports competition as scheduled, unless otherwise directed by health professionals and physicians. The MEAC Council of Presidents and Chancellors made the decision “out of concern for the physical and mental health and safety of our student athletes, coaches, administrators, support staff, teachers and fans.”
“Obviously, this is a tough decision because everyone wants to have a fall season for student athletes, fans, and others,” MEAC Commissioner Dennis Thomas said in a prepared statement. “Part of our responsibility is to ensure the mental and physical health and safety of our student athletes, coaches, and staff is paramount. It is imperative that everyone recognize that it is our primary responsibility.”
Nine MEAC schools sponsor soccer, but three of them, defending champion North Carolina A&T, Bethune Cookman, and Florida A&M, will leave the conference next July. The other members of soccer are Delaware State, Howard, Morgan State, Norfolk State, North Central Carolina, and South Carolina State.
Suspended games include the high-profile MEAC-SWAC challenge and Celebration Bowl against teams from the Southwestern Athletic Conference, the other HBCU conference at FCS.
According to the statement, the rapid escalation of COVID-19 cases along the east coast greatly influenced the council’s decision, as the data suggests that African American and other minority communities are disproportionately affected by COVID. -19. The Norfolk, Virginia-based MEAC, which comprises 11 historically black institutions along the Atlantic coast, “is committed to ensuring that the right measures are taken to reduce exposure to the virus.”
“The health and safety of our student-athletes continue to be our number one priority,” Dr. Wayne AI Frederick, president of Howard University and president of the MEAC Council of Presidents and Chancellors, said in a prepared statement. “We have made the decision to suspend all sports competitions after a careful review of current conditions and the possible exposure that regular trips to competitions may cause and extensive and continuous physical contact. While our competitions have been suspended, Each member institution will plan commitment of all student athletes to ensure the optimization of their physical and mental well-being as they continue their enrollment. “
MEAC institutions will continue the process of resocialization for student athletes, which includes counseling on physical and mental health, strength and conditioning protocol, and compliance with all safety requirements of COVID-19.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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