How BC Plans to Manage All Sports this Spring

COVID-19 has affected a variety of aspects of college life, including athletics. In fact, some BC fall sports were forced to move their seasons to the spring — something the college has never had to do before and something that will take a lot of effort and creativity to pull off.

The challenge will be that the college will have more sports than ever before competing this spring. It will be the first time in BC history this many teams will be playing at the same time. As a result, an assortment of concerns exist, including the number of training hours required by student-athletes, the number of absences from classes, the availability of facilities, the management of practice schedules, the added workload on athletic trainers, and the conflict for student-athletes who play more than one sport.

To better understand the impact, it is important to know that the sports moved from the fall to the spring are from teams with a greater number of players, such as football. Typically played primarily in the winter, men’s and women’s basketball and wrestling are likely to be delayed or pushed further into the spring. All of these sports will join the traditional spring sports of men’s and women’s tennis, baseball, softball, men’s volleyball, golf, and track and field.

“In regard to student absences, it will be allowed for students as long as they inform their professors on time and take care of the homework assignments and exams they might have,” said Tonia Walker, BC’s vice president for intercollegiate athletics. “Facilities will be available for all athletes, and we are going to organize the practice schedules so no team will affect their practices as best as possible. It is not going to be easy, but we are going to do it all together and have a successful semester.”

In addition to balancing all of these sports in one semester, Walker said the Athletic Department will continue to strive to limit the risks of exposure to the coronavirus for student-athletes, which will be an even greater challenge with so many competitions and players participating. Walker said strict rules are in place to protect BC athletes and to keep them healthy.

“All sports will be played as long as there are no positive cases,” she said. “To do this, I strongly suggest athletes keep a social distance from the other teams and not attend any big events, and wear your masks. This is your season, and your whole team will be affected if you do not follow the protocols.”

Among the protocols, the college has taken measures to maintain the safety and health of not only the athletes, but of all students, staff and faculty who attend the games. Other measures were implemented regarding community fan attendance, all in an effort to avoid the spread of the virus.

In addition, not all sports will be treated the same way this spring since they differ in the amount of physical contact and they are played in different environments. Sports like football, wrestling and basketball have significant physical contact, which makes these sports more of a risk for spreading the virus. While sports like tennis and golf have no physical contact and can therefore be played with very few restrictions. Outdoor sports also provide a greater opportunity to socially distance, while indoor sports are less safe because of the closed environment and limited space for distancing.

And despite the efforts to limit the risks of exposure to the virus, Walker knows that even the best efforts aren’t full-proof as the college has seen this fall with a number positive cases in athletes and several competitions postponed. And while many hope that conditions surrounding the pandemic will improve by the spring, there is no guarantee. Therefore, all protocols will remain in place on campus, as it is not yet known what may happen by then. In the meantime, the college will continue to make every effort possible to see that all teams play their sport this year.