UNH, SHU impacted by Ivy League’s decision
The Ivy League’s decision to not allow sports to be played in the fall semester due to COVID-19 will leave the Yale Bowl eerily quiet in the coming months.
However, the Ivy League’s decision is not only impacting the eight Ivy schools.
The University of New Haven and Sacred Heart football teams had games scheduled against Dartmouth and Penn, respectively, in September. Sacred Heart also lost a scheduled football game against Lafayette due to the Patriot
League’s adjustment to its fall schedules.
“We were honored to have scheduled the game and look forward for the opportunity to schedule them again in the future,” New Haven Director of Athletics Sheahon Zenger said. “We live in unprecedented times and I have great respect for Dartmouth, the Ivy League and the decisions they have made. Every university and conference are in discussion on what competition this fall could look like.”
The Quinnipiac men’s hockey schedule will certainly need some serious retooling considering that the Bobcats are members of the ECAC Hockey League along with six Ivy League programs, including Yale. ECAC Hockey member RPI also announced the decision not to compete in sports during the fall semester. Quinnipiac’s men’s and women’s hockey programs each had five games against Ivy League opponents and another with RPI before the end of December a season ago.
Sources indicated that finalizing replacements for the impacted games likely won’t occur until there is more clarity on whether fall and winter seasons will take place. The speculation nationally is that conferences will need to decide by the end of July whether to move forward with the fall season.
One major piece of news dropped Thursday when the Big Ten announced it would play only conference games if there is a fall football season. The Huskies were set to play at Illinois on Sept. 12 and Indiana on Sept. 26 at Rentschler Field.
UConn and Central Connecticut State have football games scheduled down the road and CCSU interim athletic director Tom Pincince wouldn’t rule out a 2020 game against UConn
or another regional game where they could drive to and from the game.
Hearst Connecticut Media reached out to the Northeast Conference, which includes Central Connecticut and Sacred Heart, the MAAC and ECAC Hockey for reaction to Wednesday’s announcement by the Ivy League and an update on how the schedules could be adjusted.
The NEC put out a statement on Thursday night after a meeting of Northeast Conference Council of Presidents stating that a Sept. 10 start date has been set for both conference and nonconference competition. Football programs will be allowed to play nonconference games before Sept. 10 although NEC schools will confirm that nonconference opponents have instituted similar health and safety protocols before competition. Also, overnight travel will be reduced when possible.
“With the health and safety of our campus and athletic communities at the forefront, the NEC Presidents are utilizing a set of guiding principles to assist in their decision-making around the resumption of sports this fall,” said NEC Commissioner Noreen Morris in a release. “With so many unknown factors at this point in time, the NEC has elected to delay the start of competition and take advantage of the extra time to continue to evaluate the local, regional and national landscape relative to COVID-19. The Presidents will reconvene in a few weeks to chart the course moving forward.”
The MAAC, which includes Fairfield and Quinnipiac, responded with a statement saying that the MAAC Council of Presidents will meet July 15 and no MAAC team can hold competitions before Sept. 11.
“This date provides us some time to evaluate what further actions are needed, if the NCAA is contemplating any changes in fall championships, and how state and local authorities are viewing the resumption of sports,” MAAC Commissioner Richard Ensor said in a statement.
“We were aware of the Ivy League discussions and have discussed informally. This Friday the MAAC Committee on Athletic Administration (ADs & SWAs) meets and we’ll be engaging in what’s been an on-going discussion about what MAAC fall sports will look like this year. As of now, MAAC athletes are not allowed on campus until August, and many schools are bringing them back more or less when the general student bodies are headed back.
“All options remain on the table for competition this fall, and decisions will be made with the safety of student-athletes, coaches and staff guiding the conference’s decision making process.”
There’s been some speculation about teams relying more on regional games. That’s not really an issue for a team like Fairfield. Last season, the only games outside of New England or the Tri-State area played by Fairfield’s men’s soccer, women’s soccer and women’s basketball teams were held in Philadelphia. The men’s basketball team played two games in Maryland and three in Orlando from Nov. 17-Dec. 1. The women’s volleyball team opened the season with three games in Maryland followed by three more in California, and field hockey had two games in Missouri.
Central Connecticut and Sacred Heart are in a conference with one team in Maryland (Mount St. Mary’s) and another in Pennsylvania (St. Francis), although the recent move of Robert Morris to the Horizon League will help cut down on some of the traveling. Sacred Heart’s soccer and field hockey teams play almost exclusively against regional foes.
UConn could be the state school impacted the most if there are travel restrictions during the fall season, if there is one, with Butler, Creighton, DePaul, Marquette and Xavier being included in the conference schedules now that UConn is in the Big East. The field hockey and basketball programs aren’t shy about playing nonconference games anywhere, and there are two Virginia programs in the Big East’s field hockey conference. Looking ahead, baseball and softball programs could have scheduling issues considering how many of them open the season playing games in Florida, Georgia or other states with the highest number of new COVID-19 cases on a daily basis.
The Yale athletic department, other than a statement from Director of Athletics Vicky Chun posted on social media Wednesday night, has not made public statements about the move. Questions to coaches were referred to Mike Gambardella, Yale’s associate athletic director, strategic communications. The subject did come up on an online town hall that included Yale President Peter Salovey and several high-ranking staff members.
“The decision is not surprising given the priority is to protect the student’s and the community’s health, but it is nonetheless very sad for our varsity student athletes and coaches who trained so hard to represent Yale and it is very disappointing for their fans,” said Marvin M. Chun, Dean of Yale College. “I know that my Yale sister, athletic director Vicky Chun and her world-class coaching staff will do everything they can to support the students’ training and conditioning this fall so they are ready when competition is allowed to resume.”
LAMAR TO BECOME GRAD TRANSFER
Yale running back Alan Lamar announced on social media that he will be graduating from Yale in December and will look to play in 2021 as a graduate transfer at another university.
Lamar rushed for 229 yards and two touchdowns to go with 12 catches in 2019. He was Yale’s leading rusher with 685 yards in 2018 and 557 yards in 2016. He missed the 2017 due to a knee injury.
He ran for 1,501 yards with 16 touchdowns and also had 33 receptions. He has one year of eligibility remaining and will be immediately eligible as a graduate transfer.