SAN BRUNO, California — With the health and safety of student-athletes and everyone connected with the West Coast Conference guiding all discussions, the WCC has postponed all conference fall competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We are obviously disappointed that the fall season has been postponed. We were looking forward to the possibilities of the 2020 soccer season," BYU head soccer coach Jennifer Rockwood said. "So much effort and preparation have been happening over the last several months as our student-athletes have been preparing for the season. Our staff and team understand the unique situation we are all facing and hope that in time competition can continue and student-athletes can get back to playing the game they love."
The WCC Presidents’ Council, in consultation with the Conference’s 10 athletic directors and Commissioner Gloria Nevarez, made this decision following thorough discussion over the course of several weeks.
“The welfare of the great student-athletes of the West Coast Conference is and always will be the guiding principle in our discussions and why we ultimately arrived at this difficult decision,” said University of San Diego President James T. Harris, the chair of the WCC Presidents’ Council. “The fall term for everyone associated with our member institutions will be different. We understand this and will continue to plan for a safe return to campus and a safe return to athletic competition in the WCC at the appropriate time.”
The WCC remains fully committed and continues to work closely with campus leadership on plans to ensure a safe environment to conduct the 2020-21 WCC men’s and women’s basketball seasons in the winter. The Conference intends to explore various models for conducting WCC competition in the fall sports of men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer and women’s volleyball in the spring of 2021. The WCC strongly supports efforts to encourage the National Collegiate Athletic Association to conduct fall NCAA championships in the spring.
The postponement of WCC fall sports seasons and championships does not preclude member institutions from scheduling non-conference competitions in low risk sports in the fall. For BYU this would include men’s and women’s golf as well as men’s and women’s tennis.
“We empathize with our student-athletes,” said Nevarez. “This is a difficult decision, but it is the responsible decision based on the available information associated with conducting competition in the current environment. WCC programs compete for national titles and we never want to take these opportunities away. However, health and safety will always be paramount in guiding our decisions. We must ensure our student-athletes have a safe environment to compete and meet the NCAA’s guidelines for Resocialization of Collegiate Sport, along with current federal, state and local health and safety measures in place at each member institution. We are committed to providing the safeguards to conduct a men’s and women’s basketball season this winter. We want to get back to celebrating the tremendous achievements of our programs as soon as we can, but we must first ensure we can compete in a safe manner.”
Discussions involving various scheduling models, gameday safety protocols and a timeline for WCC competition are ongoing and will be shared at the appropriate time.