OAC STATEMENT | OAC Frequently Asked Questions
TIFFIN – The Ohio Athletic Conference – which includes Heidelberg University – has joined a growing wave of conferences across the country who have postponed all fall NCAA athletic competition amid the continued and expanding concern over the spread of COVID-19.
The OAC Presidents Council voted Friday to postpone all collegiate athletic competition through the end of 2020. Sports affected include cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis, and volleyball. The winter-season sports of basketball, and indoor track and field, swimming and diving, and wrestling also will have intercollegiate competition postponed during the 2020 calendar year. The OAC is committed to moving NCAA intercollegiate competition to the spring, with various models being currently discussed.
"This is a terribly disappointing day for our student-athletes," said Heidelberg Athletic Director
Matt Palm. "But it is the right thing to do. Ultimately the health and safety of our entire campus community is our top priority.
"COVID-19 has shaken the landscape of collegiate athletics and so much of our daily lives, but I truly believe we will persevere through this," Palm said.
OAC Commissioner Tim Gleason had similar sentiments. "The OAC believes we can continue to provide an excellent experience for our student-athletes while continuing to make the health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches, staffs, families, fans and campus communities our highest priority."
Members of the OAC Presidents Council – including Heidelberg President Rob Huntington and presidents from Baldwin-Wallace, Capital, John Carroll, Marietta, Mount Union, Muskingum, Ohio Northern, Otterbein and Wilmington – made the unanimous decision after intense deliberations based on consideration of data, new NCAA safety and testing guidelines and in consultation with OAC team physicians and local public health officials.
At Heidelberg, a group of coaches, athletic trainers, staff and many others administrators have worked hard to find a way to safely have seasons. However, the current state of COVID-19 illness and spread poses risks that are simply too high for travel and competitions among colleges.
"Tremendous time and resources were invested in our attempt to create safe conditions for a competitive fall season," Huntington said. "We are extremely disheartened at having to make this decision, but we fully believe it is grounded in the best interests of everyone in our campus community. It is the right decision."
"I know our coaches, staff and students are deeply disappointed with the news that they won't get to play their seasons this fall," Palm said. But the doors aren't completely closing for student-athletes this fall. Heidelberg announced on May 19 its intent to reopen the campus for the fall semester after having to close in March and send students home to finish their spring semester coursework online. Spring sports seasons were canceled shortly after they began. The reopening plans remain in place.
Heidelberg and the other nine OAC schools are working on a robust plan to engage student-athletes
during the fall semester with conditioning and preparation for competition according to CDC guidelines and NCAA criteria in conjunction with local health guidelines.
"We now turn our attention to helping all of our teams successfully navigate these new limitations and the associated new opportunities this fall," Palm said. "Our administration understands how important extracurricular involvement is in the development of our students and the overall Heidelberg student experience."
