Wednesday the NCAA Division II Presidents Council canceled all fall sports championships. They did leave the door open for conferences and schools to compete in the fall if they follow the guidelines handed down by the NCAA Board of Governors. Thursday the MIAA Athletic Directors held a meeting to discuss the next step.
Emporia State Athletic Director Kent Weiser said there is more fact finding that needs to be done before making a recommendation to the CEO council.
Weiser said he does not believe there will be any games played.
Weiser says there is one big question that remains, What can we do?
The MIAA did release a statement today As an Association, we are committed to exploring every option available for MIAA student-athletes and coaches to be engaged in meaningful intercollegiate athletic activities this fall. Our commitment remains that we will do this in a healthy and safe environment for MIAA students, coaches and staff.
The Athletic Directors will meet again next week followed by a meeting of the conference CEOs who have the final say of what will happen this fall.
The Kansas State football team held their first practice today. Kansas held their first practice last Friday.
MIAA Statement:
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (August 7, 2020) – The MIAA has released statements regarding Wednesday’s announcement by the NCAA Division II President’s Council to cancel the 2020 NCAA Division II Fall Championships, and also the NCAA’s release of new COVID-19 Mitigation Requirements for practices and competition this year in all three divisions.
“Like last winter and spring, our hearts break again for MIAA student-athletes and coaches who will not have an opportunity this fall to compete for NCAA national championships. Our student-athletes train to be the best in the country in their particular sport, and it is very difficult to accept when that pinnacle event is taken away,” stated MIAA Commissioner Mike Racy.
The new NCAA COVID-19 mitigation requirements include Testing Protocols for all student-athletes and key athletics personnel (regardless of local health procedures and guidelines), and legal and insurance restrictions for schools that decide to practice or compete this fall in any sport. The MIAA COVID-19 Task Force, MIAA Athletic Directors and the MIAA CEO Council continue to meet and discuss how these new requirements impact MIAA plans for athletic department activities this fall. The MIAA CEO Council is scheduled to meet again on August 13.
