Mountain West postpones fall sports season
Monday evening the Mountain West made the decision to postpone all fall athletics indefinitely, as first reported by Brett McMurphy and later confirmed in a press release. Presidents of the Mountain West universities gathered Monday and voted to suspend the fall sports season, citing safety concerns due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Nothing is more important than the health and well-being of our students, student-athletes, coaches, faculty, staff and overall communities,” said Dr. Mary Papazian, President at San José State University and Chair of the MW Board of Directors. “Through the hard work of many over the past several months, the Conference made every effort to create an opportunity for our student-athletes to compete, and we empathize with the disappointment this creates for everyone associated with our programs.”
The Spirit of the Scotsman will be a little less prominent on campus this semester. Football, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, volleyball, and soccer seasons were all postponed Monday, joining the previously canceled fall seasons for men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s tennis, women’s swimming and diving, men’s and women’s indoor track and field, softball and baseball.
“While we are disappointed about the postponement of our fall sports and the opportunities for our student-athletes to compete, the safety and well-being of those student-athletes has been, is, and always will be our number one priority,” said Utah State Athletic Director John Hartwell in a press release.
My heart breaks today for @USUsoccer @USUVolleyball @USUFootball & @USUTF_XC – just as it did almost 5 months ago for our @USUAthletics Spring sports – for losing the opportunity to play the game they love. We will persevere & be even better. #AggieStrong #AggiesAllTheWay
— John Hartwell (@john_hartwell) August 11, 2020
The decision to suspend the season came just five days after the Mountain West announced an eight-game conference schedule with two non-conference games available as a tentative plan to play in 2020.
However, since then, other conferences at the FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) and FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) levels started to consider the possibility of cancelling or postponing the season. Some conferences, including the Big Sky, took the step to cancel the season just a few days prior to the MW.
The Mountain West joined the Mid-Atlantic Conference, Old Dominion, and UCONN as FBS schools to have suspended the 2020 football season. In addition, more dominoes are expected to fall, as it is rumored that the Big 10 and Pac-12 conferences will be suspending their seasons on Tuesday.
“We were hopeful we could carefully and responsibly conduct competition as originally scheduled with essential protocols in place,” said Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson in a statement released earlier today. “However, numerous external factors and unknowns outside our control made this difficult decision necessary. I fully understand the impact of this outcome on our student-athletes, coaches, administrators and staff who work so hard daily to play the sports we all love, and I share in their disappointment. We will continue to navigate this pandemic together, overcome the obstacles, and return to intercollegiate athletics at the earliest opportunity.”
The status of the men’s basketball season and other sports is still up in the air, as the conference said, “At this time, there are ongoing discussions regarding the status of winter sports.”
The Mountain West will explore ways to reschedule the suspended games — including the potential to host a spring season, but discussions on that are in the preliminary stages.
Utah State Aggie football players reacted to the news on Twitter.
Senior linebacker Keven Metzeinheimer said, “To clarify if I say I want to play that means I want a GUARANTEED FULL SEASON. INCLUDING a bowl game when we get to that point.”
To clarify if I say I want to play that means I want a GAURANTEED FULL SEASON. INCLUDING a bowl game when we get to that point‼️
— Kevin Meitzenheimer (@BoothaaBoo) August 10, 2020
Junior cornerback Andre Grayson Jr. also weighed in.
Do y’all know how cold it is in Utah in the Springtime?!😭 https://t.co/IuWnDmAHcN
— Andre Grayson Jr. (@AndreGraysonJr) August 10, 2020
@jacobnielson12
— jacobnielson12@yahoo.com