MIAA fall sports delayed until end of September by COVID-19 (football until October)
The MIAA is putting fall sports competition on pause because of COVID-19.
Games won’t begin until the week of Sept. 28, with practices delayed until the week of Aug. 31.
Teams’ previously planned schedules will pick up from there — starting with games on the week of Sept. 28 — and won’t be redrawn. This affects the first three football games for all MIAA teams.
Their first games were set to begin on Sept. 12. Now, the league won’t kick off until Oct. 3.
The league said it would explore moving missed games if there is an open or added date in the fall, or to the spring semester.
The MIAA made the announcement based on a recommendation from the league’s COVID-19 Task Force.
“This plan allows our student-athletes to get back on campus and get acclimated with the student body before we begin practices and fall competition,” MIAA commissioner Mike Racy said. “We remain hopeful that the MIAA student-athletes will be able to practice and compete this fall, but we need to be patient and make sure that we are doing that in a healthy and safe environment for our student-athletes, coaches, and administrators.”
In May, the MIAA announced reduced schedules for all sports, including 10 games in football and 22 in men’s and women’s basketball.
The Division II MIAA consists of 14 schools in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma, including Northwest Missouri State, Central Missouri, Lincoln, Washburn, Pittsburg State and Emporia State. The newest members, Newman University in Wichita, and Rogers State in Claremore, Okla., joined in 2019.
Emporia State athletic director Kent Weiser said athletes at his school have been on campus for conditioning this summer, “and our coaches have taken every curveball thrown at them in stride. There is some frustration, but overall I feel that we have been able to learn a lot throughout the experience and plan to come out better because of it.”
This story was originally published July 20, 2020 at 10:05 AM.