NCAA’s Division II and Division III decided Wednesday they are canceling fall sports championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In both divisions, the sports affected by the cancellation are football, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, women’s volleyball and men’s water polo, said ESPN.
The decisions came after the NCAA Board of Governors directed each division to make its own decision on fall sports championships.
Division II said holding fall championships was not a viable or fiscally responsible option.
“This decision was discussed very thoroughly, and I assure you, it was not made lightly,” said Sandra Jordan, chancellor of the University of South Carolina Aiken and chair of the Division II Presidents Council, in a statement. “It is important to note that fall student-athletes will be given eligibility-related flexibility to allow them championship opportunities in the future. As we move forward, we will continue to focus on providing the best championships experience for our winter and spring student-athletes who were not afforded those opportunities at the beginning of this pandemic.”
Division III said it too decided to cancel for the health and safety of the student-athletes, coaches, athletics administrators and communities.
“Looking at the health and safety challenges we face this fall during this unprecedented time, we had to make this tough decision to cancel championships for fall sports this academic year in the best interest of our student-athlete and member institutions,” said Tori Murden McClure, chair of the division’s Presidents Council and president of Spalding University, in a statement. “Our Championships Committee reviewed the financial and logistical ramifications if Division III fall sports championships were conducted in the spring and found it was logistically untenable and financially prohibitive.”
