No football at Trinity, Wesleyan

Days after the Ivy league became the first conference to cancel sports competition through the fall, the New England Small College Athletic Conference followed suit, announcing Friday that conference competition for fall sports will be canceled due to concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The decision will affect the Connecticut institutions of Connecticut College, Trinity College and Wesleyan University.

“In keeping with public health guidance, each of our institutions has put in place physical distancing protocols, limits on travel on and off campus, and limits on the size of on-campus gatherings,” a statement from the NESCAC presidents said. “Consistent with these policies, the NESCAC Presidents have decided unanimously, though with great reluctance, that NESCAC conference competition for fall sports must be canceled for fall 2020.”

The announcement added that conference members will still work to provide meaningful athletic opportunities for student-athletes, including allowing practice and training outside the traditional season.

The NESCAC’s decision comes a day after some Power Five conferences started to make modified plans for fall sports, with some athletic directors even expressing doubt that fall sports can be played at all. The Big Ten is moving to a conference-only schedule for football, and the ACC is delaying the start of Olympic sports competition to Sept. 1. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., has also called for conferences to follow the Ivy League’s lead in not playing sports, including football, this fall.

Earlier in the week, other Division III schools made similar moves. The Centennial Conference, which features schools from Maryland and Pennsylvania, announced Tuesday that fall sports are suspended. Bowdoin College (a NESCAC institution) and UMass Boston, as well as Iowa’s Grinnell College, had also previously canceled fall sports.

Alexa Philippou can be reached at aphilippou@courant.com