The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics cancelled its spring 2020 sports season due to coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns. This announcement came 4 days after the NAIA cancelled all winter championships.
The NAIA announced no spring sport athletes will be charged a season of competition. Any students who are enrolled full time in 2020 and compete in a spring sport such as baseball, golf, softball or track and field will be given two additional semesters of athletic eligibility.
Due to the NAIA’s cancellation and OCU’s suspension of activities until May 10, all athletic activities on campus, such as team workouts, have been suspended.
Madison Altom, track and field freshman, said athletes have been trying to stay in shape despite the suspensions.
“We really can’t meet up anymore for practice, so everything we do is on our own,” Altom said. “Coach Aguero has been giving us our workouts and runs for the week, and we just get them done on our own.”
Caleb Evans, sophomore pitcher for OCU baseball, said some players may still practice together.
“Luckily, we have many Oklahomans on our team, so we can still get together as individuals and get our throwing and hitting done outside of an organized, mandatory setting,” Evans said. “Everything that players do to stay in playing shape is 100% voluntary and on our own. Luckily, we have an older group with excellent leadership and love for the game and so being self-motivated shouldn’t be a problem.”
Evans said the suspension is especially difficult for athletes who want to play professionally.
“The MLB draft and the scouting process around it is in question,” Evans said. “We have several players that are draft prospects and with the suspension of the season, their evaluation becomes difficult to impossible.”
Evans said the cancellations are emotional for athletes.
“There are a lot of late nights and early mornings and hours of sweat and pain all done to win a national championship,” Evans said. “You couple that with knowing that you have several brothers that may have just had their last year taken from them, and your heart breaks. It is emotional watching the people closest to you hurting so much.”
Evans said despite the disappointment, his teammate Caleb Davis helped him come to terms with the situation.
“Caleb Davis just beat cancer,” Evans said. “He just underwent intensive chemotherapy. His immune system is not as strong, and he is in that high-risk group that could be lethally affected by this virus. That helps keep things in perspective. We want to play, and we want our lifetime of hard work to be recognized with a national championship, but not a single one of us would do that at the expense of Caleb’s life.”
To prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the CDC recommends washing your hands for at least 20 seconds, avoiding close contact with those that are sick and staying home if you are sick. For updates on the NAIA sports season, go to www.naia.org.
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