Delaware State University plans to reopen, but its students-athletes will not have any games or competitions to look forward to when the school year starts.
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference voted to suspend all fall competition in 2020, citing escalating COVID-19 cases in many areas where student-athletes from member schools reside.
It joins the Ivy League and Patriot League in shutting down fall competition.
But DSU officials expect their teams will be able to train and practice when they return campus, adding they preparing for amended seasons and schedules on the horizon.
University president Tony Allen says the school’s testing partnership with Testing for America will make athletic activities possible on campus for teams – with student-athletes tested regularly and monitored along with the rest of the student population.
When it announced it reopening plans earlier this month, the school said it planned to use DSU’s football, women’s soccer and volleyball teams to help ramp up on-campus testing when they arrive for pre-season camp later this month.
The MEAC’s decision to scrap its fall schedule affects 245 DSU student-athletes competing in football, volleyball, women’s soccer, women’s tennis, women’s golf, equestrian, and men’s and women’s cross-country.
The MEAC says it currently plans on going ahead with its slate of winter sports.
The league is also talking to the NCAA about eligibility concerns. The NCAA granted spring sports athletes an additional year of eligibility when their seasons where shutdown this year. The MEAC is asking the same be done for its fall sports athletes.
