As youth teams work to get their seasons off the ground, colleges are raring to go.
By now, most Division 1 conferences have announced plans, schedules and start dates for their 2020-21 campaign. That includes Atlantic Hockey, which is set to kick off its season this weekend with its two-pod, Eastern and Western, approach.
Except, on Wednesday, one of the 11 members of Atlantic Hockey, Rochester Institute of Technology, announced it was canceling all winter 2020-21 sports, citing ongoing health and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This was a very difficult decision and we understand the disappointment this brings to our student-athletes and coaches," RIT president David Munson said on Monday. “But given the rise in COVID-19 in our community, as well as across the nation and globe, this is the right thing to do for athletes and community safety.”
While Atlantic Hockey plans to go forward with a season, RIT, in its statement, said it “felt the obstacles were too high to play during a global pandemic.”
“Campus leadership has been meeting regularly to discuss the prospect of safely conducting winter sports competitions under the backdrop of extensive NCAA, New York State, Department of Health and university guidelines aimed at keeping our community safe," RIT executive director of athletics Lou Spiotti Jr. added. “In spite of our efforts, the virus continues to spread throughout the region, and we could not justify a season of competition for any of our teams.”
The decision to cancel the winter season comes after the Liberty League, which houses most of RIT’s Division 3 sports, canceled its winter slate on Monday.
In response, senior forward Jake Hamacher took to Twitter. “The RIT hockey team will be fighting against this decision,” Hamacher said. “We are not affiliated with the Liberty League and should not be subject to this ruling.
“We are a member of Atlantic Hockey, which is still on track to have a season.”
At the time of publication, Atlantic Hockey has yet to comment on the decision and how it plans to move forward with its campaign minus one of its 11 teams.
The NCAA recently approved a blanket waiver allowing all student-athletes across all divisions to retain their year of eligibility for the 2020-21 academic school year.
On Thursday, the Ivy League joined RIT and canceled its 2020-21 winter season.
The Ivy League, which was the first Division 1 conference to cancel spring sports at the beginning of the pandemic in March, as well as fall sports in July, includes six ECAC teams — Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton and Yale.
The decision to cancel the winter season was made after a unanimous vote by the Ivy League Council of Presidents, citing a “commitment to safeguard the health and well-being of student-athletes, great campus community and general public.”
The Ivy League had previously postponed the resumption of any sports until Jan. 1.
“Regrettably, the current trends regarding transmission of the COVID-19 virus and subsequent protocols that must be put in place are impeding our strong desire to return to intercollegiate athletics competition in a safe manner,” the council said in a joint statement released on Thursday.
“Student-athletes, their families and coaches are again being asked to make enormous sacrifices for the good of public health — and we do not make this decision lightly. While these decisions come with great disappointment and frustration, our commitment to the safety and lasting health of our student-athletes and wider communities must remain our highest priority.”
With the loss of half of its members, the ECAC is left with Clarkson, Colgate, Quinnipiac, RPI, St. Lawrence and Union to participate in the 2020-21 season.
Four of those schools — Clarkson, Union, St. Lawrence and RPI — are members of the Liberty League in all sports besides hockey.
At the time of publication, the ECAC has yet to release a statement in response to the Ivy League cancellation.
Clarkson and Quinnipiac are the only teams to have released any plans for the upcoming campaign, announcing a series of non-league contests in November.
Colgate, which has not announced any games, appears on Clarkson’s schedule.
Liam Flaherty can be reached at liam.flaherty@hockeyjournal.com and on Twitter @_LiamFlaherty.
