This year there are no college sports in the Spring because of the coronavirus. The NCAA while cancelling all spring sports, has given all Spring Student-Athletes another year of eligibility. It will be up to the individual athletes and their academic path among other things if they will take advantage of this rule put into place to combat the coronavirus. Penn State Altoona Athletic Director, Brent Baird elaborates on the situation, and tells that student-athletes who wanted to gain the semester back need to meet with him so that they can apply for a restatement.
“All student athletes that play in the following sports will not be charged with the use of a season of eligibility: Baseball, Softball, Men’s Volleyball, Golf or Men’s and Women’s Tennis. Golf and men’s and women’s tennis are because their NCAA Championship is considered a spring championship by the NCAA. So that gives each of those students an additional season of participation to use no matter what year they are in, additionally those student athletes will not have the spring semester of 2020 marked as used as part of their 10 semesters of enrollment. We are coding all of the student athletes on our teams that are eligible for the waiver in the compliance system. Whether the student athletes want to take advantage of this waiver will be determined by their educational plans and where they are in the degree requirements and if they will be still enrolled. If a student athlete wants to take advantage of the additional time granted by the NCAA, they will meet with me to apply the waiver properly,” stated Baird.
In the coronavirus pandemic, the seniors are the ones who will be missing out on the most. If they don’t return for another year for whatever reason they will be missing out on the always special senior night. Another thing they could miss out on is missing graduation this year. The Coaches are trying to keep in contact with their students and keep them positive and motivated on continuing doing well in classes. Mr. Baird talked about the help the coaches have been giving to the players and the stresses of this situation and to not hesitate to reach out for resources that could help in times like these.
“Other issues we have been dealing with is trying to keep in communications with all of the athletes and most importantly the seniors as they may be having a rough time losing out on their season, senior days, and potentially graduation ceremonies. Coaches have been reaching out to make contact with all the teams and encouraging them to work hard on the classes and to use resources if anyone is struggling with any aspects of the current state of daily life,” said Baird.
As we look forward to the fall semester, just like much of the world right now there is uncertainty. No one knows how this virus pandemic is going to settle out. As of right now all plans for the fall semester and sports are hypothetical.
“The NCAA is starting discussions on what will happen if the pandemic has an effect on the fall semester. This is obviously just planning and “what if ” situations, but there has to be some conversation just in case because we do not know how this situation will progress,” declared Baird.