SEC postpones start of multiple sports until at least September. The impact at USC
The first fall coronavirus cancellations or postponements have arrived for the SEC.
The league announced Tuesday that it would postpone the start of any competition for soccer, volleyball and cross country. That affects three teams at South Carolina, plus the men’s soccer team that is part of Conference USA.
“SEC institutions will continue to follow the guidance of the Conference’s Return to Activity and Medical Advisory Task Force and the NCAA’s Resocialization of College Sports Guidelines as student-athletes are engaged in preseason preparation for a return to competition,” a league statement said Tuesday.
A school spokesman said now decisions have been made if the August games will be canceled or postponed. The men’s soccer team will follow the SEC’s guidelines.
Schools will handle any rescheduling of contests, should they be possible to play. Football was not affected by Tuesday’s announcement, as the first SEC games are not until the week of Sept. 5.
None of the Gamecocks’ fall sports outside of football had released schedules yet. From game contracts requested by The State, the women’s soccer team had at least four matches scheduled in August, while men’s soccer had five.
Those game contracts mention epidemics and pandemics as reasons both sides of the agreement can be absolved of their obligations.
The move comes amid growing pessimism about the viability of college sports in the fall as COVID-19 case totals continue to rise and positive test rates do not seem to be falling. The Big Ten and Pac-12 have already abandoned non-conference football games, in part because of worries smaller schools will not be able to afford as rigorous of testing and prevention measures.
Schools around the country, including South Carolina, began mandatory athletics workouts on Monday. The change allows for more weight training, conditioning and film review in a given week through July 23. No more than two of those hours can be spent on film review.
The SEC athletics directors met Monday in person in Birmingham to go over a range of topics. Coming out of it, conference commissioner Greg Sankey didn’t commit to any big changes, and later said in an interview that the league will wait a few more weeks before dealing with questions about the football season.
“It is clear that current circumstances related to COVID-19 must improve and we will continue to closely monitor developments around the virus on a daily basis,” Sankey said. “In the coming weeks we will continue to meet regularly with campus leaders via videoconferences and gather relevant information while guided by medical advisors. We believe that late July will provide the best clarity for making the important decisions ahead of us.”
This story was originally published July 14, 2020 at 3:13 PM.
