CIAA votes to Cancel Men’s and Women’s Basketball Seasons, plus Volleyball Season canceled too:WSSU Rams see seasons lost to COVID Concerns!!!

from www.wssurams.com:

CIAA Announces Updated Plans for Men’s & Women’s Basketball and Volleyball

CHARLOTTE, NC – Due to growing concerns related to COVID-19, the Board of Directors for the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) has voted to cancel the upcoming men’s and women’s basketball seasons, which was set to begin January 9, to include the 2021 CIAA Basketball Tournament. In addition, the board also voted to cancel the volleyball season, which had been moved to the spring from the fall.

“Unfortunately, COVID-19 continues to challenge the conference’s ability to see a clear path to move forward collectively. The impact to health and wellness, community concerns, as well as the economic ramifications are real,” said CIAA Commissioner Jacqie McWilliams. “I want to commend our Board of Directors for exemplifying courageous leadership in college sports to ensure the well-being of the CIAA as well as the health and safety of our student-athletes and communities.”

“This was not an easy decision or one that was taken lightly by the CIAA Board,” said Virginia State University President and CIAA Board Chair Dr. Makola Abdullah. “We all want to have a season, and we want our student-athletes, coaches and staff to have a season. However, the data, which changes almost daily, does not support such a decision. The potential risk outweighs the desire to play.”

In lieu of games being cancelled and no in-person events, the CIAA still plans to engage alumni, students, and fans during what is traditionally tournament week, in the last week of February, through a virtual experience. The platform will feature a host of ancillary events – including several that have become cornerstones of tournament week such as CIAA Fan Fest and the CIAA Step Show. More details, including a full schedule of events, interactive fan promotions, and other activations, will be released at a later time.

A decision on spring seasons and championships will be provided later as the conference and its membership continue to monitor the COVID-19 landscape while following current federal, state, local, NCAA, and campus guidelines.

For more information on Rams athletics, contact the WSSU Office of Athletic Media Relations at (336) 750-2143 or log on to www.WSSURams.com.

2 thoughts on “CIAA votes to Cancel Men’s and Women’s Basketball Seasons, plus Volleyball Season canceled too:WSSU Rams see seasons lost to COVID Concerns!!!

  1. OMG!!! High School will be playing Ball. CIAA have no backbone. Just play ball!!!! Fear Porn is on the news daily on Covid. its not all that. How I know ? I work in a Hospital!!

  2. @ T. Smith The CIAA canceled because they can’t afford the testing. It’s that simple.

    Half of those schools were surviving from month to month financially even before all this, so there’s no way they can pay what it will take to test their basketball and football players, and there’s no way they play without testing because of liability. That’s why Bethune and UMES shut everything down and why FAMU isn’t playing football in the spring: they can’t afford the testing.

    And if you really think the public schools will play much of a basketball season with all of the COVID-19 spread that’s going to occur over the holidays you must have gotten into your hospital’s pharmacy. If rich private schools like GDS have had to cancel a bunch of games because of the virus, how are the Smiths and Andrewses of the world going to avoid outbreaks?

    BTW, if they played the CIAA tournament in February it would be the ultimate super-spreader event, topping any of Trump’s rallies.

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