The Ivy League, one of the United States most notable group of educational institutions has made the decision to cancel all sports until January 2021. This includes men’s ice hockey until at least January.
In a joint statement signed by all eight Ivy league presidents, the following was released;
“As a leadership group, we have a responsibility to make decisions that are in the best interest of the students who attend our institutions, as well as the faculty and staff who work at our schools.These decisions are extremely difficult, particularly when they impact meaningful student-athlete experiences that so many value and cherish.
With the information available to us today regarding the continued spread of the virus, we simply do not believe we can create and maintain an environment for intercollegiate athletic competition that meets our requirements for safety and acceptable levels of risk, consistent with the policies that each of our schools is adopting as part of its reopening plans this fall.
We are entrusted to create and maintain an educational environment that is guided by health and safety considerations. There can be no greater responsibility — and that is the basis for this difficult decision.”
With the Ivy League leading the way, who is next? Make no mistake about it, more schools and Universities will be taking this approach.
The safety issues coupled with liability issues make playing college sports this year a very risky proposition.
Everyone in hockey has been waiting to see how football would work after opening up workouts. The plan was to use football as a guide in how to best open up hockey.
The problem is that football has shown everyone that college campus’s are not safe from positive COVID-19 tests. Ohio State just cancelled the voluntary workout program it had been operating after massive positive testing.
More and more NCAA programs are now experiencing positive tests, and more of those institutions are now considering if playing is worth the risk.
For those of you wondering how this effects junior hockey, it should be pretty clear. If NCAA and Ivy League institutions are cancelling seasons, junior hockey in the United States is not safe, especially if that program relies on ticket revenue.
Joseph Kolodziej – Adviser
