URI Cancels All Fall Varsity Sports, Including Football
KINGSTON, RI — The University of Rhode Island announced that all fall sports, including football, will not be held during the upcoming semester due to the coronavirus pandemic. Sports are set to resume in spring 2021.
The university's announcement came after similar decisions from the Atlantic 10 Conference and Colonial Atlantic Association, which plan to hold fall sports in the spring if it is safe to do so.
Although no competitions will be held, teams will be allowed to work out and practice in the fall, provided they followed safety protocols. Affected Atlantic 10 teams include volley ball and men's and women's soccer and cross-country. Men's golf, women's tennis, swimming and diving and rowing are also postponed, as well as the non-traditional competition season for baseball and softball.
A-10 said there is an option to reassess the postponement in the fall, based on the current state of the pandemic.
"Conference and institutional leaders have agreed to consider a potentially truncated competitive schedule among conference opponents if the COVID-19 risk has substantially been reduced," URI said in a statement. "The reinstatement of conference competitions would require medical and institutional protocols to ensure the safety of student-athletes, staff and the campus community."
The CAA, URI's football conference, expressed "a strong commitment to exploring the possibility of conducting a football season during the spring of 2021," URI said, and is monitoring the latest updates to adapt the plan as needed. While some schools have the option to play "independent football schedules" in the fall, URI will not take part, the university said.
"The decision to not compete this fall is painful, but it is the right decision," Thorr Bjorn, URI's athletic director, said. "Our primary responsibility is to act in the best interests of the health and well-being of all our student-athletes, and our wider community. We want to provide the best possible experience during their time here, and that must be done in a responsible manner. We also want our wonderful fans and supporters to remain safe and healthy, including those from the broader student community, faculty and staff."
As of now, winter sports will go on as scheduled, except for swimming and diving.
The Fall/spring conference schedules will be announced at a later date, URI said.
This article originally appeared on the Narragansett-South Kingstown Patch
