WIAC cancels spring sports season
MADISON - The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference on Monday announced that it is canceling all springs sports, effectively immediately, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The sports affected are: baseball, softball, women’s lacrosse, outdoor track & field, golf and tennis.
In addition, all sports-related activities (practices) are suspended indefinitely. All in-person athletic recruiting activities, on or off campus, are suspended indefinitely. All in-person conference meetings are to be transitioned to telephone conference calls until further notice. The American Family Insurance/ WIAC Student-Athlete Leadership Institute scheduled for April 16-17 is postponed with the possibility of rescheduling in the fall.
Gary Karner, in his 24th and final season as WIAC commissioner, noted that from his perspective nothing he has encountered during his time as commissioner can match the coronavirus crisis. The only issue that comes close? The terrorist attacks on 9/11.
“And that’s not even the same…” Karner said. “I remember having to make decisions after 9/11. Are we going to play? What are we going to do? But that was a definitive time period you were dealing with.”
During the tumultuous fall of 2001, the WIAC gave schools the option of whether to hold regularly scheduled athletic events, postpone them or cancel them.
“I remember there were some schools that played and some that didn’t that weekend,” Karner said. “But we weren’t in conference play for football or volleyball yet.
“I think this time around there is definitely an interest that we all do exactly the same thing.”
Meanwhile, the Horizon League also canceled spring sports.
Schools will make decisions regarding practice and recruiting in accordance with NCAA regulations, state and institutional guidelines.