The Ohio Valley Conference said it has decided it is postponing the start of competition in fall Olympic sports until Sept. 17, but the decision doesn’t include football “due to existing contractual matters.”
The conference also said it will conduct conference-only competition in women’s soccer and volleyball. The competitive schedules for winter and spring sports are expected to remain unchanged, the conference said.
“The delay will provide each campus additional time to prepare for the seasons under new health guidelines, to stagger the start of seasons and for institutions to experience the impact of having the student body return to campus,” the conference said in a statement. “Upon their return to campus, teams will have the opportunity to train and practice under the approved safety protocols established in partnership with the NCAA’s Resocialization of College Sports Guidelines, each institution and local public health experts.”
Ohio Valley Conference members are Austin Peay State University, Belmont University, Eastern Illinois University, Eastern Kentucky University, Jacksonville State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Southeast Missouri State University, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Tennessee State University, Tennessee Technological University and University of Tennessee at Martin.
