The NCAA Division III Board of Governors made the decision to postpone all fall sports. They also chose to cancel fall championships. The NCAA made it clear the health and safety of the student-athletes, coaches, administration and communities were their priority. NCC’s athletic department also made adjustments to its programs due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The coronavirus pandemic not only affects Division III, but also NJCAA, NAIA, Division II, Division I (FCS) and some of Division I (FBS). These organizations would also postpone their fall sports. A lot of these institutions are going to go through some challenges. Student-athletes will have to stay safe and active. Coaches will have to find ways to recruit, and athletic departments handle the absence of sports.
Financial impact
According to the Associated Press, many institutions have had to make a tough decision regarding their athletic department. The NCAA has cut 152 college programs, including 52 in Division III. The NAIA has had 12 programs cut. NCC is seeing some reduction in its budget, but nothing yet has raised any known issues. From the cancellation of winter and spring championships alone, the NCAA reported that the Division III experienced a $7.6 million deficit and lost 70% of revenue allocation.
“As a tuition-driven, Division III school we only plan to add sports into the future, not eliminate them as you are seeing at many of the Division I schools,” stated athletic director James Miller. “Their business model is solely dependent financially on football and basketball to fund the athletic departments – a much different model than we experience.”
COVID policies
The majority of fall athletic programs can participate in the spring. The two big differences being no championships and schedule and practice reductions. For now, fall athletes can practice but the NCAA leaves protocol to the institution.
“Currently we’re in the last phase of testing, so yes we have been practicing as a whole team as of now,” said women’s tennis player Morgan House, ’21. “The plan is that we will play along with the men’s season as much as we can, especially since we share the same head coach. In the winter we will most likely be practicing indoors at Naperville Tennis Club with only a few players selected.”
NCC’s COVID-19 resource page mandates students, staff and faculty to wear face coverings and social distance. Classrooms and buildings must have cleaning supplies. The school limits people in elevators and the amount of furniture in rooms. Community members should stay home if sick and report positive cases.
Challenges
Some programs, like soccer, were able to come back to campus before classes started and begin training. The team tested everyone and trained in small pods once test results cleared them. With testing continuing every two weeks, men’s soccer head coach Enzo Fuschino explained pods can become bigger and contact allowed.
“We are using this opportunity to train all semester long to create the team chemistry necessary to compete at this level,” said Fuschino. “The difficult part is recruiting as there are not many games being played in the region. High school sports have been canceled in many states, so we are viewing the film more than ever before.”
With the postponement of fall sports until 2021, a decision for winter sports is underway for the NCAA. The CCIW Presidents Council and NCC have made the decision to push the start date of winter sports to Jan. 1, 2021. Conference members are eager to get student-athletes back to action.
“Nothing will stop us from providing the best student-athlete experience we can give during the pandemic and circumstance,” Miller said. “The CCIW presidents and athletic directors are committed to providing these opportunities coming this January knowing that we would be competing and practicing with all 27 varsity teams here at North Central. It’s not too much to handle, just a huge challenge.”
