The St. Thomas and St. Olaf men’s hockey teams play against each other. St. Olaf College joins neighboring Carleton College as the second MIAC school to cancel the 2020-21 winter sports season for varsity athletic teams due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. (TommieMedia file photo)
St. Olaf College joins neighboring Carleton College as the second MIAC school to cancel the 2020-21 winter sports season for varsity athletic teams due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Many other colleges and universities throughout the country have also canceled winter athletic competitions.
This decision will effectively terminate winter competition for men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s hockey, men’s and women’s swimming & diving, men’s and women’s alpine skiing, men’s and women’s Nordic skiing, and men’s and women’s indoor track & field according to a statement from St. Olaf Athletics Thursday.
“After considering the current circumstances and predicted future circumstances of the global pandemic, we felt it was important to continue to focus on the health and safety of our entire campus community and to make the difficult decision not to compete this winter,” St. Olaf Athletic Director Ryan Bowles said in the statement.
No decision has been made on spring sports, nor has any decision been made on rescheduling fall or winter sports to the spring, the statement said. Furthermore, no verdict has been made at this time on the state of competition for spring sports: baseball, softball, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s tennis, and men’s and women’s outdoor track & field teams.
“We are extremely disappointed for our student-athletes, in particular our seniors, who will not have the opportunity to compete this winter due to COVID-19,” Bowles said. “They have worked tirelessly this fall in preparation for competition and we are grateful for that.”
Teams will be allowed to practice next semester, while following St. Olaf’s COVID-19 policies.
“Now that a decision on winter competition has been made, our focus shifts to providing our winter sport student-athletes with the best experience possible for the remainder of the academic year,” Bowles said.
The MIAC or St. Thomas has not made decisions regarding winter sports yet. Likewise, no decision has been made regarding the possible rescheduling of 2020-21 fall or winter sport seasons in the spring.
Joey Swanson can be reached at swan5350@stthomas.edu.
Justin Amaker can be reached at justin.amaker@stthomas.edu.