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With cancellations and postponements continuing to mount up across the sports world due to COVID-19, there was finally a bit of good news announced early Friday afternoon surrounding college athletics.
NCAA Making Changes
On Thursday, the NCAA announced that it was cancelling all winter and spring tournaments due to the growing concern of the coronavirus, leaving a number of players devastated by the statement. But now there may be some good news, as the NCAA’s Council Coordination Committee came to an agreement to grant relief to all spring student-athletes and to allow them an extra year of eligibility, according to Stadium’s Jeff Goodman.
The NCAA’s Council Coordination Committee has agreed to grant relief for the use of a season of competition for student-athletes who have participated in spring sports.
Committee will also discuss issues for winter sport student-athletes.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 13, 2020
The decision comes after the organization started to receive pushback from a number of people within and outside of the sports industry. More specifically, coaches, players and athletic directors were those who voiced their frustrations on the resolution louder, according to an article by Jenna West of Sports Illustrated.
Eventually, the NCAA delivered a message to its community saying it would be the best option to grant these athletes with the relief of another season of eligibility, according to the article. As of now, this decision just applies to those players who participated in spring sports. The organization is still working on a plan for winter sports.
Seniors in a number of sports, including basketball, baseball and softball, have seen their last season come to an abrupt stop with what’s transpired over the last few days. Some hoping that the last time they saw the field or court won’t be their last.
Final Thoughts
As the sports world continues to be at a standstill, this decision coming from the NCAA to allow these athletes a chance to come back and compete for one more year is the news a lot of people needed to hear as they struggle through this difficult time. It seems only fair that these seniors get one last full season to compete for a championship with those they’ve been around for the last three years of their lives.
