A-10, CAA Join Other Leagues In Forgoing Fall Sports

July 20, 2020 / Athletic Administration
Five more college conferences announced its cancellation of the fall sports season late last week.

Shortly after the Ivy League and Patriot League — two NCAA Division I conferences — announced its moves to forgo the fall sports season, the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10), the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC), the East Coast Conference (ECC), and the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) have followed suit, according to an article on Forbes.com.

fall sportsThe A-10 Conference, made up of Dayton, Duquesne, Fordham, George Mason, George Washington, LaSalle, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure, Saint Joseph’s, Saint Louis, and VCU, left open the possibility that fall sports could be played in-season if the situation improves. The conference said it was allowing what it termed a “look-in window” in mid-September, after which a reduced conference schedule could be attempted fit he spread of COVID-19 reduces, according to Forbes.

The CAA, an NCAA Division I FCS conference for football, announced that the conference will be postponing the 2020 football season due to COVID-19 concerns, according to Forbes. The CAA’s Board of Directors shared its commitment to exploring the idea of holding a spring football season in 2021 while adding that member schools have the option to explore playing an independent fall football schedule. The member schools include James Madison, Albany, Villanova, New Hampshire, Towson, Main, Elon, Richmond, Delaware, William & Mary, Stony Brook, and Rhode Island.

The CCC, an NCAA Division III conference in New England, and its board of directors announced what it described as “the extremely difficult decision to suspend CCC intercollegiate athletic competition” for this upcoming fall semester. The conference is holding out hope to begin winter athletics as early as January 1, 2021, Forbes said.

“The decision to suspend CCC play in the Fall 2020 semester does not preclude individual CCC institutions from making institutional decisions to schedule some athletic competition.” the conference board of directors said in an issued press release.

The NEAC, another NCAA Division III conference in the Mid-Atlantic region, unanimously decided that it’s eight member schools will not partake in athletic competition this fall. The conference’s announcement stated that the “NEAC institutions will work together in collaboration with the conference office and the NCAA to seek alternate opportunities to provide a meaningful student-athlete experience throughout the fall season.”

» ALSO SEE: More Leagues Cancel Fall Sports Season

The NEAC’s announcement continued by stating that a decision regarding winter and spring competition will be made at a later date.

The ECC, an NCAA Division II conference based out of the Northeast, and its council of presidents voted unanimously to suspend the fall athletics season.

To read the full story from Forbes on the five latest conferences to adjust its fall sports schedules amid the COVID-19 pandemic, click here.