BREAKING: Slippery Rock fall and winter sports canceled

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UPDATE (NOVEMBER 18, 10:00 a.m.) – The PSAC has canceled all mandated winter sports

There will not be sports played in the PSAC until the spring after the Board of Presidents voted Tuesday night to cancel all mandated regular season and championship competition for its winter sports.

“With careful consideration to health concerns and realistic abilities to conduct sport seasons amid this pandemic, our conference and our membership is forced to make some very difficult decisions,” PSAC Commissioner Steve Murray said in the PSAC’s release. “With the time we have to continue weighing our options, we are fully committed to playing a spring sports season.  We will remain supportive of any other decisions to play sports and host championship events should our membership view it as a safe and reasonable opportunity.”

Any individual fall or winter sports team in the PSAC has until the end of the day Wednesday to inform the PSAC of its intent to continue with championship competition despite the PSAC’s decision to cancel. Should six teams in any one sport across the PSAC declare intent to play, that sport will be reinstated and will follow existing PSAC rules and new NCAA guidelines on COVID-19 in a new season.

The PSAC will review all requests and announce whether any fall or winter sport will have enough teams to warrant a continuation of its season as soon as possible.

The conference still intends to continue with a full regular season and championships for all spring sports.

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference announced Wednesday morning in an online statement that all previously suspended fall sports will not be played in the spring 2021 semester, effectively canceling all seven fall sports at Slippery Rock University and across the PSAC.

The PSAC’s decision comes in the wake of the NCAA canceling all fall sports championships in Division II athletics earlier this year.

Men’s and women’s cross country and soccer, and volleyball, field hockey, and football will not have regular-seasons or conference championships during the 2020-21 season, but if six or more PSAC institutions commit to competing in any sport, the PSAC will reinstate an individual sports’ championship season.

A majority vote among the PSAC Board of Directors, the presidents of each member institution, was the determining factor in the cancellation of the fall sports schedule, but the Board chose to proceed with the intended regular seasons and conference championships for all spring sports — men’s and women’s outdoor track & field, tennis and golf, and baseball, softball, and women’s lacrosse.

There has not been a decision made on whether winter sports — wrestling, men’s and women’s basketball, indoor track & field, and swimming — will compete in previously scheduled championship seasons, but the decision is expected next week.

Individual member institutions may still participate in a countable related athletic activity (CARA) and explore competition outside of the previously mandated PSAC schedule.

This story is breaking news and will be updated as more information becomes available. 

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Karl is a senior sport management major and communication minor entering his fifth semester on The Rocket staff. He will serve as the sports editor after previously serving as the assistant sports editor. During his time with The Rocket, he has covered every sport that SRU has to offer, and with the lack of sports this coming semester, he is looking forward to finding alternative ways to deliver sports news to the SRU community. After graduation, he hopes to work in the sports writing field.

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