The coronavirus pandemic has forced numerous sports leagues to rethink how they will go about their seasons. At the college level, the same applies. For Bowdoin College in Maine, this force of changes has hit especially hard.
On Monday, the school’s President Clayton Rose said in a statement that they would be canceling all fall sports for this upcoming school year, because of the pandemic. “This is one of the very disappointing outcomes of our plan. Athletics is a central part of the Bowdoin experience for many of our students and for the College more generally. NESCAC has not yet determined what will happen with conference play or how coaches in this extraordinary semester may interact with athletes on fall, winter and spring teams during the fall semester, but I am hopeful that there will be significant opportunities this fall for coaches to work with those athletes who are both on and off campus. Varsity athletes living on campus are likely to have in-person workout opportunities with coaches, but unfortunately, students living off campus will not be permitted to participate in on-campus workouts.”
The statement would continue and say that Bowdoin hopes to have the “opportunity for the winter, spring, and possibly fall varsity athletes to participate and compete in some form after January 1.”
Bowdoin plays in the New England Small College Athletic Conference, and said that because of the lack of fans that will be able to attend games, they simply could not go through with having a season. The question is now as to whether or not any other schools follow Bowdoin’s lead.
