It would be a nearly full time job to discuss all the updates and implications of COVID on sports from the youth to the professional level. Since I last updated quite a few things have happened.
- 66- 67 NFL players opted out for the season (I’ve seen it reported as both numbers). Players will only be able to opt out from now on if a close family member gets seriously sick with COVID or if they develop a high risk condition. The Patriots had 8 athletes opt out, where as some teams had none. You can read more about NFL opt out here: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-opt-out-deadline-takeaways-after-67-players-pull-out-of-2020-season-during-covid-19-pandemic/
- The MLB schedule has been impacted by outbreaks on teams: https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-schedule-as-24-total-games-postponed-due-to-covid-19-including-cardinals-cubs-series/
- The NHL has some good news with no COVID cases in either bubble during the first week of play.
- NBA also has had no COVID positives in their bubble since play has resumed. 2 players tested positive and were quarantined in Orlando upon arrival.
- UConn becomes the first FBS school to cancel the fall season including football. Their athletic director David Benedict stated: ““After receiving guidance from state and public health officials and consulting with football student-athletes, we’ve decided that we will not compete on the gridiron this season…The safety challenges created by COVID-19 place our football student-athletes at an unacceptable level of risk.” The teams athletes seem to agree with the decision:
“We have many health concerns and not enough is known about the potential long term effects of contracting COVID-19,” they said. “Additionally, we have not had the optimal time to train mentally & physically to be properly prepared to compete this season. We love this game and love competing. We came to campus in the beginning of July knowing there would be challenges presented by the pandemic but it is apparent to us now that these challenges are impossible to overcome.”
UConn Players Statement
6. The Mid- American Conference cancels their fall season including football today. The MAC includes 12 public Universities including Kent State, Central Michigan,University of Akron, and Miami (OH). These schools often play some bigger schools on the road to generate revenue and when those conferences canceled out of conference play, these schools lost this income. The conference cited the finanical burdern of coronavirus costs as one aspect that led to the cancellation. Many do not consider the costs of testing, isolating, and cleaning but these are significant when trying to keep division one football going on during a pandemic. These costs may be feasible for the power conferences or even the independants with deeper pockets, but will be significant to smaller schools who do not have lucrative tv contracts and with smaller endowments. The cancellation of the MAC schedule certainly makes a huge dent in the schedule of West Point and makes me wonder what they will do. There are discussions that other teams have already targeted MAC athletes for transfers, but currently no confirmation or discussion of transfer status.
7. Players in the PAC- 12 and Big Ten both sent letters of demands and concerns to their conference leadership. The demands are well thought out and address issues important to student athletes including whistle blower protections, quality 3rd party testing, scientific best practices, eligibility including red-shirt status, scholarships, roster spots, coverage of out of pocket expenses related to COVID-19. It is clear that these student athletes are cognizant of the risks of COVID in their sport and want to know that these conferences are uniformly mitigating risks. This will likely be an ongoing discussion and we may see other conferences and players joining in. It is clear that some players feel that their respective conferences are not making their safety a priority. This is a complex discussion that I will be following in the coming days and weeks.
https://www.si.com/college/2020/08/08/pac-12-players-lash-out-larry-scott-coronavirus-protocols
Additionally, The New York Times reported that a recent survey of Division 1 schools has found that 6,300 cases of COVID have been tied to these 270 colleges. For a variety of reasons, this is likely an underestimate. These recent findings are concerning as colleges consider having faculty and students return despite rising cases in many areas of the country. Colleges are naturally areas where people come together for classes, living, recreation, and socialization. There will be transmission between people in this setting.
As noted previously as athletes have returned, cases have been reported as well. 630 cases have been reported in 68 schools where athletes have returned for preseason workouts. These recent findings lead to questions regarding the feasibility of in person school, group workouts, contact sports, and travel. See New York Times article here: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/28/us/covid-19-colleges-universities.html
The hardships faced by these higher level teams should make you wonder what is going on at the youth and scholastic level. Children are not going home to a bubble but are associating with other teammates, classmates, family members, and teachers. They likely are not getting routinely tested and do not have access to fast returning tests.