Patriot League Cancels Fall Sports Season
BOSTON (CBS) -- Another college conference has scraped its fall sports season amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Patriot League announced Monday that its teams will not be playing sports this fall.
Locally, that means no 2020 football season for Holy Cross. The same goes for Boston University, but that has come to be expected.
While the Patriot League isn't one of the country's power football conferences, canceling its season adds to the growing sense that playing football may not be feasible amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ivy League canceled its fall sports schedule last week.
In Monday's announcement, the Patriot League said it would make a decision on winter and spring sports at a later date. The statement added that "the opportunity for conditioning, strength training and other practice opportunities in all sports will be permitted provided health and safety conditions support such activities."
"Because the United States Military Academy and the United States Naval Academy are unique in their environments and their missions within higher education, the Council of Presidents agree that the academies may continue to engage in competitive opportunities as considered appropriate by their respective Superintendents," Monday's statement read. "The collegiate athletics experience at all Patriot League institutions is valuable to fulfilling our educational and developmental missions, and the League recognizes that any degree of non-competition this fall is deeply disappointing to our student-athletes, coaches, and fans. However, the health and safety of our campuses and communities must be our highest priority."
Men's and women's soccer, women's volleyball and field hockey are among the other sports that will not have a fall season in the Patriot League.
