A controlled environment may be the key to resuming.
UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham had an insightful interview with Jones Angell recently in which they discussed the current status of college sports. Of course, the players and coaches are part of a university and the ACC, so the overriding policies of cancellation or suspension must be followed.
But if and when the coronavirus is contained and activities can resume under careful guidelines, controlling the environment under which that happens will be the key to continuation.
Obviously, travel to different areas will still be limited, but let’s take spring football. If the university reopens to classes, football practice would be a good place to start easing back into play. The new indoor practice facility is certainly controllable.
Without spectators and every athlete, coach and support personnel under careful screening and health routines, practice might be able to resume and even a spring or summer scrimmage held without spectators but perhaps on close-circuit TV.
The next step would be how the virus is contained outside of specific campuses. The full ACC schedule in spring sports may not come back, but specific schools implementing health and wellness standards could allow a series of games to be scheduled, getting the athletes back onto the fields and tracks.
The last element of lifting a suspension would be having spectators watching from safe havens, even if only a certain number of fans are allowed in various sections of a stadium. All pertinent state and federal health organizations would have to sign off, but after months of social distancing, a gradual return to normalcy would be so important to the public’s well-being.
If the onus was on universities and various athletic organizations to follow strict protocol as this re-entry takes place, it would serve as a valuable progression that could help us all gain confidence when the stadiums re-open for good.
A long spring without games being played on all age levels will be difficult for the mental health of America. So, leaders like Cunningham are sure to look for safe ways back to action.
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