I kind of wear my opinions on my sleeve, so if you have been reading my articles you’re probably going to know how I feel about the cancelling of fall sports. First of all the unanimity of the Patriot League decision is a myth. There are 12 football playing schools in the conference, four have decided to continue with fall “olympic” sports, Army, Navy, Georgetown, and Fordham. Army and Navy as full members will continue all sports, Georgetown is a member of the Big East and they will continue their olympic sports in that league and Fordham is in the A-10 and will play all sports except football this fall.
So if the situation were so dire and obvious about having a soccer or field hockey game this fall why, are these schools deciding to play on outside of the league? Now, I may be proven wrong but recent testing by schools, especially in the Northeast are getting favorable results ( eg. UConn reported yesterday O cases out of 200 tested). Even those who had reported cases, those persons are isolated and recovering, showing the wisdom of the 6 week “resocialization” period prescribed by the NCAA.
Getting back to Field Hockey, if the Patriot League and the Ivy League remain as the only conferences not playing this fall, there will be a NCAA tournament with most likely 3 open slots in the 16 team field for that championship tournament.
That leaves the spring. There are still regulations in place that would NOT allow a full practice and game schedule this spring. So who would the IVY and Patriot League play in that case? How many athletes would choose a gap year rather than a half hearted spring season? Would the Patriot League allow red shirt years for athletes that choose to sit it out? Would scholarship limits be adjusted to account for those returning players and a new freshman class??
The Patriot League should have either left participation up to the individual school or moved the reporting date back to allow for resocialization to take place and time to reassess the risks. I do realize there would be some additional expense involved and maybe that’s the real crux of the decision?!
Lafayette College Field Hockey 