A&M-Texarkana, RRAC teams moving fall sports to spring

TEXARKANA, Texas — With Red River Athletic Conference’s announcement to move fall sports to spring because of coronavirus concerns, Texas A&M University-Texarkana’s men’s and women’s soccer teams will have extra time to prepare for their seasons.

The scheduling of A&M-Texarkana’s basketball programs will be made at a later date.

The presidents of RRAC member institutions decided to move fall sports to the spring session of 2021 as the cases of COVID-19 infections continue to rise in the conference’s states of Texas, Louisiana and New Mexico.

The move pushes the typical RRAC fall sports of men’s and women’s cross-country, men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball to at least January, according to A&M-Texarkana Eagles’ website. Traditional spring sports are on schedule for a normal return in 2021.

A&M-Texarkana plans to flip the semester for its soccer program, with offseason workouts and potential for scrimmages this fall. The team would come back in spring for a preseason and compete for a conference championship, said Michael Galvan, TAMU-T Director of Athletics.

“While this is not ideal, we are making every effort to have the activities which are crucial for the physical and mental well-being of the student-athlete,” Galvan said.

Last year, the Lady Eagles (12-7-1) finished fourth in the conference and qualified for the RRAC soccer tournament, where they eventually fell to LSU-Shreveport. The Eagles (7-11-2) also qualified in the men’s conference tournament as the sixth seed.

In basketball, the Eagles (14-19) reached the RRAC tournament in their inaugural season, where they reached the championship game against LSU-Shreveport. The women’s team won four games in its first year and looks to turn things around this season.

Under the plan, RRAC members retain the option, at their discretion, to schedule and compete in non-conference or exhibition matches.

“As we approach uncharted waters, the health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and staff members is a priority and will remain at the forefront of all decisions. The decision has been made to move the Red River Athletic Conference soccer season to the spring semester. While this decision is not taken lightly it is definitely a painful one for many reasons. We remain committed to our students and coaches, this unfortunate trend most likely will arise throughout the NAIA in the coming weeks and will result in moving the entire soccer season throughout the country to the spring term. One item which will remain certain is our effort to provide a well-rounded student-athlete experience.

Given the changing nature of the COVID-19 crisis, the RRAC presidents also stated that they will continue to evaluate the situation and protocols necessary for the wellbeing of student-athletes. Conference administrators and athletic trainers will continue to refine their return to play and gameday procedures for the date when conference contests resume.