Atlantic 10 Conference Postpones Fall Sports

RICHMOND, Va. The Atlantic 10 Conference has announced that it will postpone all 2020 fall sports competitions (conference and non-conference) and 2020 fall conference championships due to health and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 virus. The best efforts will be made to reinstate fall sports in the Spring 2021 semester.

This decision was made in consultation with the A-10 Presidents' Council and Athletic Directors. Richmond sports impacted by the A-10 decision include soccer, field hockey, men's cross country and women's cross country. The fall competitive schedules for men's golf, men's and women's tennis, swimming and diving, will also be postponed, as will non-traditional competition seasons for baseball and women's lacrosse.

"While the decision to suspend our fall sports season is deeply disappointing, I fully support the action taken by the A-10 President's Council and Athletics Directors," said John P. Hardt, Vice President & Director of Athletics. "They properly prioritized the welfare of our communities above all else as it became clear that suspending; fall sports was necessary to protect the health and safety of our student-athletes, our campus, and the community."

The league intends to conduct a competitive schedule for the fall sports in the 2021 spring semester. Details on the rescheduling of contests and championships will be announced at a later date. Safety, health and the well-being of student-athletes, coaches, administrators and the campus community at large is the primary concern and responsibility of the Atlantic 10 Conference and its member institutions.

The conference and institutional leadership have agreed to a "look-in window" mid-September, allowing for a potentially truncated competitive schedule amongst conference opponents if the COVID-19 risk has substantially been reduced. The reinstatement of conference competitions following the look-in window would require medical and institutional protocols that would assure the safety of student-athletes, staff and the campus community. If COVID-19 risk levels do not improve, the teams and student-athletes will continue training and practicing while attending classes and prepare for a spring 2021 competitive schedule.

"Our nation finds itself in very challenging and uncertain times; however, I know our Richmond coaches and staff will remain focused on ensuring the best experiences possible for all of our student-athletes as we move forward," said Hardt. "While there's no question our dedicated Spider student-athletes, coaches and staff were hoping for a different outcome, COVID-19 has made it imperative to take every necessary precaution to ensure the wellbeing of our student-athletes, staff, and fans. We are and will remain committed to doing all we can to provide healthy competitive opportunities for all of our fall sports programs, perhaps in the spring."

The competitive schedules for winter sports (other than swimming and diving fall contests) will remain unchanged at this time. As a basketball-centric conference, the league acknowledged basketball contests begin in November, however determined it would be premature to make decisions on their competitive schedules at this date. Addressing the immediate return of fall sport student-athletes was the priority in working with every institution's campus to assure a safe return to school with an opportunity to compete in the winter and spring sports as well as the postponed fall sports competitions.

This Colonial Athletic Association Football will make a decision on Spider football at a later time.

--UR--

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Atlantic 10 Conference Postpones Fall Sports

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