HVCC faces adjustments

Delayed seasons likely to be reduced

Among the 18 sports offered at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, football and basketball are the big-ticket items, and both are looking at reduced schedules and delayed seasons in the 2020-21 academic year because of COVID-19.

The National Junior College Athletic Association voted Monday to move all “close contact” fall sports to the spring and determined that winter sports cannot begin their schedules until Jan. 1.

That means HVCC, the only Capital Region junior college to offer football, could have athletes competing in the spring and again in the fall of 2021.

“That was a big topic of discussion among the NJCAA,” athletic director Justin Hoyt said Wednesday.

“It is feasible with a condensed schedule. It’s not a full schedule they’ll be playing in the spring. It could work.

“The main thing, from an academic standpoint, our student-athletes still have to come in the fall and make their grades. If they’re a first-year student-athlete coming in, they have to prepare themselves to be eligible for the next fall, the fall of 2021. They’re going to need 24 passing credits to be eligible for the fall of 2021. So it’s not like they can take off the fall semester, come in in the spring and take 12 credits, and be ready for the fall of 2021.”

Men’s and women’s basketball, which generally begin in early November, also will be facing shorter seasons. The NJCA A has moved its basketball championships from March to April, but that only makes up for only one of the two months lost to the later start.

“That is going to be a condensed season,” Hoyt said. “It’s too early to tell as far as a schedule and who we’re going to play, but I can see a scenario where we’re playing within our region, Region 3, schools around us. We’re not going to be traveling, hopefully, across the state. Everything is fluid at this stage. We’ll explore all of our options with the health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches, staff and community our No. 1 priorities.”

Shorter seasons in football and basketball, HVCC’S two revenueproducing sports, could have an economic impact on the athletic department, but Hoyt said no discussions have been held about eliminating sports.

“It could impact the financials of the department,” he said. “It’s going to be important for us that the student-athletes know the importance of the academic portion of this. It’s not all about athletics.”