COVID Limits Fan Attendance for BU Home Athletic Events

Bluefield University student-athletes are missing fans at home athletic events this semester, thanks to on-going restrictions related to COVID-19.

At the beginning of the spring 2022 semester, the attendance policy for Bluefield University Athletics for indoor sporting events was as follows:

• Spectators will not be admitted to BU’s indoor sporting events.
• Only participating student-athletes and game-day staff will be allowed inside the Dome and Herb Sims Center.
• Masks are required.

As the case numbers for COVID decreased, the Athletics Department decided to make a few adjustments to the attendance policy for indoor sporting events to accommodate some of the students and staff at Bluefield University, all while staying within safety guidelines. Updated on January 24, 2022, the revised attendance policy for winter indoor sporting events reads as follows:

• BU students, faculty and staff will be admitted to BU indoor winter sporting events. 
• Each participating BU student-athlete will be allowed two guests on a pass list. 
• No visiting spectators will be permitted. 
• Masks are also mandatory for entry. 
• Fans are to be seated in the upper level of the Dome and Herb Sims Center. 

“We are trusting our medical professionals in their area of expertise, so I think that we are doing the best that we can under the circumstances,” said BU wrestling coach Jason Waelti about the policies limiting fan attendance at games/meets. “I hate the limited attendance at home events, but I am also thankful we get to compete.”

Waelti also spoke about the effects the lack of fans has on his team’s performance. He said he didn’t think the wrestlers were affected that much by the limited number of fans, but he did say it affects recruiting.

“I believe it affects the growth of our program,” Waelti said. “Southwest Virginia is a cradle for high school wrestling culture. Without allowing young wrestlers to come to our matches, we are missing some opportunities to show local recruits that we can be an exciting environment to go and wrestle in. Part of the exciting environment is wrestlers that wrestle with their heart on their sleeve, and we have that. And of course, the part of an exciting environment is a crowd. We have a plan for growing that crowd and fostering an exciting wrestling meet. We just haven’t been able to implement it with COVID protocols in place.” 

Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Tonia Walker spoke about the new COVID attendance policy and explained why the Athletic Department decided to allow some fan attendance.

“As student-athletes returned to campus in the spring, the COVID numbers were again on the rise,” Walker said. “Thus, we made a temporary pause in attendance until the numbers leveled off. This was all done in the interest of the safety of the student-athletes and in an effort to avoid a breakout on campus.”

Walker added that she does not anticipate any other changes in attendance policies for winter sports. She explained that changes to the existing policy would be based on the number of positive COVID cases and contacts on campus. 

Trent Dunn, a player for Bluefield University’s men’s basketball team shared his thoughts on the new policy for fan attendance.

“I think the limited fan policy isn’t the most ideal situation considering home crowds do make a difference, but I think it’s the best decision because of how COVID has been.” Dunn said. “It does help when we have a crowd, but we played a lot of games last year without fans by feeding off our own energy. Not having a crowd forces us to find our own momentum, but I don’t think it necessarily affects us because we have to be ready to play, regardless of the circumstances.”