CCAA PLANS TO SHIFT FALL COMPETITION TO THE SPRING

Confernece hoping to have sports compete in seven-week windows

LISTEN TO ENTIRE INTERVIEW WITH CCAA COMMISSIONER MITCH COX

      The NCAA announced that all fall sports will be canceled this year. It means that both the spring and fall championships in the 2020 calendar year have been scrapped because of the Coronavirus pandemic. But, the chance to compete may not be lost.

     The California Collegiate Athletic Association (Chico State's home conference) has put plans in place to move their fall sports to the spring. Commissioner Mitch Cox told KpaySports in an exclusive interview that the best case scenario has fall and spring sports competing during a staggered seven-week schedule. 

     Cox says their initial plan has soccer and basketball competing at the same time with  basketball playing on Thursday's and Saturday's while soccer competes on Friday's and Sunday's. The hope for basketball is to get at least 15 games in while only playing teams in their regions.

     For instance, Chico State would not play teams from Southern California, they would only play teams from the north, Humboldt State, Stanislaus State, East Bay, Sonoma, San Francisco State and Monterey Bay. Tentative plans have the basketball season starting on January 21st. with an initial practice date set for January 2nd.

     Baseball, softball and volleyball would be played later in the spring with a staggered schedule as well. It is not known how Cross Country, Track & Field and men's and women's golf schedules fit into this model yet. 

     Cox says there are several factors at play including financial, logistical and of course the progression of the Coronavirus and COVID-19. A large outbreak could squash any plans to compete during the spring. Cox also says testing protocols still need to be addressed as student athletes will need to be tested on a regular basis. He says the costs associated with this testing is prohibitive and paying for these tests is still being studied at the national level.

     Cox says fans will not be allowed to attend events making their CCAA Network AND their radio broadcast partners vital to the spring season (KPAYSports is Chico State's flagship station.)

     Cox says while the fall sports will not be able to compete for a national championship, if all things go right, they will be able to compete for CCAA Conference Championship. He says it's too soon to determine whether spring sports championship plans are on the chopping block. The hope is that the country can get a handle on the Coronavirus through social distancing or a vaccine that will help the spring athletic competition format and the championship schedule can move forward. 

NCAA CANCELS 2020 FALL SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Several high profile Chico State sports affected......

     The NCAA Division II President's Council CANCELS Fall Championships and will not postpone them until the spring. Division II schools, like the Chico State Wildcats in the CCAA, can still choose to play at some point. The parameters, opponents and dates are unclear.

     In their statement they also doesn’t mention basketball which bridges both the fall and spring semesters in Division II. How this affects the Chico State men’s and women’s basketball teams is unknown at this time

     The fall sports at Chico State includes men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, cross country and volleyball. Today’s decision by Division II Presidents Council means those sports will not have an opportunity to compete for NCAA Championships in 2020. It remains to be seen if those sports join with other institutions in the West Region (Great Northwest Conference & Pacific West Conference) and try to play a season during the spring semester. 

     In the NCAA press release they stated they canceled the championships because of the operational, logistical an financial challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.