UConn considers vaccine requirement, reduced capacity for games
UConn has begun discussions internally, as well as with the Big East Conference and the state, about changes in fan attendance policy for men’s and women’s basketball home games in an effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
An announcement about new measures, which include potential for a reduced capacity model and proof of vaccination upon entry, will likely come early next week, athletic director David Benedict said Wednesday afternoon.
The introduction of the highly contagious Omicron variant has brought the pandemic, in its 22nd month, to yet another point of advanced challenges, state positivity rates have hit record highs, both basketball programs have halted operations and the framework for remainder of the 2021-22 season is being more closely considered.
The next scheduled home games are Jan 9 (women vs Creighton) and Jan. 12 (men vs. St. John’s), both at Gampel Pavilion.
“There is a level of concern because of the trends, not just on our campus but in the state,” Benedict said. “It’s something we have to be aware of and factor into how we plan on continuing to move forward . ... Time is relative and things are fluid with the nature of having both of our programs right now being shut down, but we do have a little bit of time. That is helpful because any time you are going to communicate a signif
icant change you would want to have as much time as possible to communicate that to your fan base.”
Between the men’s and women’s teams, there have been nine home games so far at Gampel Pavilion and the XL Center, with both facilities open to full capacity with mask mandates in place for those attending.
The past two home games have been sellouts, with an announced 15,564 on hand for a men’s Big East opener against Providence Dec. 18 in Hartford, and an announced 10,167 for the women’s game against Notre Dame Dec. 5 at Gampel Pavilion.
Connecticut’s positivity rate was 14.98 percent Tuesday, 17.78 percent Wednesday — far from ideal conditions for having fans elbow-to-elbow in arenas and shoulderto-shoulder in cramped concourses.
There has been conversation about allowing fans who are not vaccinated to attend games with proof of a negative test result within 72 hours, but that might not gain traction.
“The testing needs are high for sick people, and I don’t know that we want to put ourselves in a situation where we’re encouraging healthy people to go get a negative test to come to a game,” Benedict said. “But that is an option, as is proof of vaccination and the potential of reduced fans, which we certainly hope to not have to do. But those are all things under consideration.”
This season was, in many minds, shaping up to be the return-to-normal season after the “pandemic season” of empty arenas in 2020-21, and a welcome-back feeling prevailed even into December. But COVID has funneled basketball programs and fans toward another New Year of uncertainty.
“Everyone is in a little bit of a déjà vu type situation like, ‘Hey, I thought this was over to a degree,’” Benedict said. “Obviously we’re right back into it. It feels a little bit different than in the past because I think right now the way the virus is acting, it’s so transmittable that a lot of things we were doing that were quite effective in stopping transmission aren’t necessarily working. Or it’s the degree and the ability to catch it early is more challenging. The good news, at least from what we’re seeing — and this isn’t a blanket statement for everybody, but at least with what we’re seeing on our campus and with our student-athletes in particular — is very mild symptoms and individuals recovering quite quickly. I’d love for that to be the same for everybody but that at least is a positive, if there is any.”
Two women’s games were postponed, starting with Wednesday’s game at the XL Center vs. Marquette, due to COVID issues in Marquette’s program. It was announced Tuesday that Friday’s game at DePaul was postponed due to COVID issues at UConn.
On the men’s side, Tuesday’s game at Xavier and Saturday’s home game against Butler was postponed due to UConn’s COVID issues, and Saturday’s home game against Butler was called off for the same reasons. Both teams already had been decimated by injury.
The women’s team remains without Paige Bueckers, who was injured against Notre Dame and later required knee surgery, and Azzi Fudd, Nika Muhl and Aubrey Griffin. With Saylor Poffenbarger and Mir McLean having left the program, the Huskies are down to eight available players. The men’s team dealt with injuries to Adama Sanogo (who missed four games and returned Dec 21 at Marquette in a limited capacity) and Tyrese Martin (who missed four and returned Dec. 18 against Providence).
This puts the Huskies in a difficult position as it relates to having enough players to compete with COVID complications, even if players who test positive are isolated. A modified Big East cancellation policy, announced Dec. 23 as “the result of the recent sudden and significant increases in the number of COVID-19 cases nationally and within BIG EAST programs due to the spread of the Omicron variant,” states that a conference game will be canceled if a team has fewer than seven scholarship players and one coach available.
The conference will attempt to reschedule all games, and games that can’t be rescheduled will be declared a “no contest.” Previously, forfeitures were assigned to teams that were unable to participate due to COVID.
Both UConn basketball teams are fully vaccinated, and 95 percent of studentathletes campus wide are fully vaccinated.
Connecticut’s daily positivity was down to 1.52 percent in late October but has steadily climbed. Major professional sports leagues across the world have been impacted by virus shutdowns. College football bowl games have been canceled. As of Wednesday afternoon, according to a list compiled by cbssports.com, 92 men’s college basketball teams had ceased operations due to COVID at some point during the season.
The UConn women last played Dec. 19, losing to Louisville before an announced crowd of 8,204. The day before, a Saturday, the men’s team lost to Providence at the XL Center with its first sellout crowd since Feb. 2020 on hand.
UConn will have financial and logistical complications to deal with if it moves to reduced capacity, potentially having to halt and refund ticket sales.
“We went through this process a year ago,” Benedict said. “We hadn’t gotten into games, so it was a little bit cleaner. But there are always ways to prorate things and a lot of our fans were supportive and donated the money last year, as opposed to asking for the refund. But we’ll obviously do the right things there, as we always are going to do. Those are things we’re looking at and discussing now as well.”
Meetings at the university, conference and state levels, with guidance from the CDC, will continue through the week.
“We want to take all that information in and do what we think is in the best interest for the safety and welfare of student-athletes and fans,” Benedict said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to do something in the early part of next week to communicate to everybody if there is going to be a change.”