A Path Towards the Impossible: Cutting HBCU Football
Today, the Mid-Eastern Atheltic Conference became the first historically black NCAA Division I athletic league to cancel fall competition for its member institutions, and the third behind the Division II Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
The announcement comes as the NCAA released new guidelines for fall sports participation; in essence, a list of standards that every school would find virtually impossible to uphold, and even more difficult to ensure in cooperation from opposing schools. From ESPN:
While the NCAA made testing a major part of its most recent guidelines, the onus is still on the individual schools to provide the tests, and the document stated, “schools should plan to secure the resources necessary to both perform the tests and to manage the details related to any positive results.” If PCR testing cannot be performed within 72 hours of competition, then the competition should be postponed or canceled, or an alternative plan for testing should be developed and agreed upon.
The NCAA guidelines state that any individuals with “a high risk of exposure” should be placed in quarantine for 14 days — and that includes opposing team members following competition. In some cases, the document states, that could mean an entire team.
The NCAA also gave guidelines for travel, stating when feasible, “schools should aim to travel and play the same day to avoid overnight stays,” a scenario that’s unlikely for college football season. If overnight stays are necessary, the NCAA recommends travel protocol includes universal masking and social distancing for individuals traveling with others by private car, van, chartered bus or chartered plane. It also suggests “prepackaged meals or room service should be considered.”
Two leagues remain with plans intact, for now, for fall competition — the Southwestern Athletic Conference and the NAIA’s Gulf Coast Athletic Conference. With the exception of departing Edward Waters College, the GCAC does not compete in football and plans to open its fall season on time with a social distancing infrastructure in place for all member schools.
As cases continue to increase nationwide, science and common sense tell the same tale; a sport that counts blocking and tackling as the most basic fundamentals for winning cannot, and probably will not, be played in the midst of a pandemic fueled by an airborne virus…
