Pac-12 to allow voluntary in-person workouts June 15

The Pac-12 became the third Power 5 conference to set a date for athletes to return to voluntary on-campus in-person training on Tuesday.

The Pac-12 will allow voluntary in-person workouts for all sports starting June 15, the conference announced following a meeting of the Pac-12 CEO Group. The decision comes four days after the Big 12 and SEC made similar announcements in the wake of the NCAA’s decision to permit schools to reopen voluntary training starting June 1.

Each school will develop its own health and safety plans that align with local public health guidance. CU has yet to indicate if it will allow in-person workouts on campus June 15, but CU-Boulder Chancellor Phil DiStefano, the CEO Group Chair, threw his support behind the Pac-12’s decision Tuesday.

“As educational institutions, our highest obligation is to the health and welfare of our students, faculty, and staff,” DiStefano said in a news release. “As we considered the pros and cons of taking steps that can pave a path to returning to play, those considerations were foremost, guided by the advice of our own medical experts along with public health officials.”

The Pac-12 COVID-19 Medical Advisory Committee created a series of guidelines and protocols for schools to follow once they decide to open for individual workouts.

The guidelines created by the medical advisory committee cover returning to campus; returning to an athletic facility; facility specific considerations; return to exercise and response to infection or presumed infection.

It’s unlikely all 12 schools will open their doors at the same time. States with schools in the conference are reopening at difference paces and that will affect when athletes can return to campus for workouts.

Arizona has reopened many of its services and said professional sports can resume, while California, Washington and Oregon have been slower and more restrictive in allowing the resumption of small gatherings.

Several Pac-12 football coaches have said they would like six to eight weeks of preseason training and practice to be ready should the season begin as scheduled in late August and early September.

“As states have either already opened or begin to open up access to parks, gyms and other training facilities, student-athletes should have the option at this time to be in, what for many, will be a much safer environment on campus, where they can have access to the best available health, well-being and training support,” Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said in a news release.

The SEC will allow schools to resume workouts June 8, while the Big 12 opted to allow voluntary activities to start June 15 for football, July 1 for other fall sports and July 15 for all other sports.