LAURINBURG — Spring sports schedules at local universities have been affected by the spread of the coronavirus.
The Appalachian Athletic Conference, St. Andrews’ NAIA conference that includes 20 schools, announced Friday morning that all of the league’s athletic competitions have been suspended until April 5, at the earliest.
“A further decision on whether to resume spring season competition will be announced some time before then based on developments in the efforts to contain COVID-19,” the league’s statement read. “During this time, the AAC will continue to access and review the viability of our 2020 spring sports regular season and postseason competition.”
The Peach Belt Conference, the NCAA Division II home of several UNC-Pembroke teams, canceled the remainder of ots 2019-2020 spring sports season.
“This includes all regular-season competition for the 15 NCAA championship sports the conference sponsors as well as upcoming spring sports tournaments in baseball, softball, tennis, golf and track & field,” the PBC’s statement read.
“This was a very difficult decision for the board to make,” said PBC commissioner David Brunk. “But the safety and well-being of our student-athletes, coaches and fans is our top priority. Given the unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 pandemic that we are all facing, the board agreed that this was in the best interests of everyone involved.”
The Mountain East Conference, which also hosts a handful of UNCP teams, made a similar announcement Thursday.
“In the interest of the safety and well being of everyone involved in intercollegiate athletics and the public, the Mountain East Conference has suspended all athletic competitions indefinitely,” the MEC’s statement read. “The decision was made with unanimous support of the league’s Board of Directors following today’s decision by the NCAA to cancel winter and spring championships for the remainder of the 2019-20 academic year.”
All winter and spring NCAA championships have already been canceled.
Many NCAA programs around the country learned this week that their seasons are now over. But current NCAA Division I seniors received some good news Friday.
According to a statement from the Division I Council Coordination Committee: “Council leadership agreed that eligibility relief is appropriate for all Division I student-athletes who participated in spring sports. Details of eligibility relief will be finalized at a later time.”
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