By Harrison Kaseff
The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) shut down all Spring sports on March 12, 2020. Since then, they have introduced a new eligibility extension for Spring sport athletes in order to return the year of competition that they missed. Members of the Division I Council have increased the number of players that teams can have on scholarship. This will allow coaches to make room for incoming recruits as well as for seniors to stay another year in school to play their sport. The Council made these decisions in order to provide coaches and teams with flexibility in how they proceed in the years to come. They want schools to take action in the best interest of their communities and student athletes.
Fall sports are hoping to begin their summer workouts on time if they are able to. Before sports like College Football can return, many restrictions need to be lifted. Once quarantines end, Covid-19 numbers can decrease and socialization can begin to occur again at universities. Even if College Football games and other fall NCAA sports are allowed to take place in the Fall, there will most likely not be fans in attendance. There is simply no way to safely social distance over 100,000 fans in the “Big House” at the University of Michigan. Coaches will also have to be spread out on the sidelines in order to abide by the CDC’s Guidelines. Older coaches have voiced their concerns over their increased vulnerability to the virus. Special accommodations will need to be made for these coaches to return to the sidelines. Lastly, teams have had to conduct their off-season workouts and installs via Zoom this year. This could lead to sloppy play and miscommunication on the field in Fall.
Winter sports should be able to return as scheduled. Most Winter sports this year were able to finish their regular seasons. However, NCAA’s popular College Basketball was unable to play any of their post season: March Madness. Basketball fans look forward to March Madness each year, as millions of brackets are filled out. Since there was no March Madness this year, it can be expected that even more people than usual will watch and place wagers on the next available televised sport. No matter what sport it is, more people than usual will be glued to their TV screens when NCAA Sports make their return in the Fall.
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