OCU Athletics will allow certain sports to compete for the spring semester.
Following a delayed start to the 2020-2021 athletic season, OCU Athletics announced that fans and spectators will be prohibited from attending on-campus sports competitions, activities and events until further notice. Coaches, team members, game day personnel and essential staff who comply with the athletic department’s COVID-19 policies will be allowed to attend and participate. All competitions will be livestreamed through BlueFrame’s OCU Sports Network.
Jim Abbott, OCU athletics director, said all student athletes and faculty involved in high-contact sports, including basketball, wrestling and cheerleading, will likely now receive weekly COVID-19 tests, along with wearing masks during practices and passing temperature checks.
“Our intention here is to resume practices when we return,” Abbott said. “Good Lord willing, we’ll have most of our sports attempting to compete this semester.”
Abbott said current competition schedules are subject to change due to the pandemic’s unpredictability.
“I wish I knew exactly what the future held, but I just know the primary thing is that we’re going to be thoughtful and careful about everything we do, and everything our student-athletes and coaches are involved in,” Abbott said. “Still, we do know that despite that thoughtful and carefulness, things happen. We expect that there will be some scheduled games we can’t play due to circumstances involving our team or our opponents.”
Abbott said all decisions were made in coordination with the OCU Emergency Operations Committee.
“There was a meeting over the holidays to look over where we are and what we’re planning to do on campus this spring,” Abbott said. “That was, I guess, the finalization of our plans for protocol, but we have been talking about it since March, really.”
Abbott said hundreds of hours went into planning and developing safety guidelines for the 2020-2021 season.
“The fact is, when all this started, we thought we would probably be fine by the fall, but guess what? We weren’t,” Abbott said. “We’ve spent a lot of time thinking this through. Our priority here isn’t to focus on if we win or lose games. Really, I don’t think it’s ever been that. We just want to do whatever we can to give our students the opportunity to do what they love to do.”
Abbott said OCU Athletics will always prioritize the health and safety of student athletes, coaches and faculty.
“We know, despite all our efforts, that we will still face some challenges in the future,” Abbott said. “I would just like to say that everything we do is always going to be based on what’s best for our university, and for our students.”
Caleb Evans, political science senior and baseball pitcher, said he commends OCU’s student-athletes and coaches for their resilience and adaptability.
“It’s been an adjustment period for sure,” Evans said. “My coaches, for example, Denney Crabaugh and Keith Lytle, have been here for over 30 years. They’ve been doing this for a long time, and they have gone above and beyond concerning protocols and making sure that we’re always in compliance, so tip of the cap to them for adjusting and changing so quickly. It’s been hard enough for us 20-something-year-olds, much less 60-something-year-olds.”
Evans said he admires the department’s continued dedication to student athletes during the pandemic.
“This situation sucks, and it’s really hard, especially now knowing that our parents and fans can’t watch us play,” Evans said. “This has been a practice of discipline, but we’re just really grateful to our school for letting us even have the shot. There’s been a lot of times recently where we didn’t think we would have a shot.”
Athletic practices and activities resumed Jan. 15.
For sports news updates, visit OCUSports.com
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