The Mountain West Board of Directors canceled all spring sports competitions indefinitely Thursday because of concerns regarding the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic.
“The health and well-being of student-athletes, as well as the campus and general communities, is of utmost priority,” the Mountain West said in a statement issued Thursday. “Therefore, the Board has determined the most prudent course of action is to align with the recommendations of public health care and government officials to help limit the spread of the virus.”
The decision to cancel all spring competitions was shortly followed by a statement from San Jose State Athletics Director Marie Tuite.
“We are in agreement with and support the Mountain West’s announcement today to suspend spring sports competitions,” Tuite said in the statement, “The action is in the best interest of our student-athletes, coaches, staff, fans and friends of San Jose State University athletics.”
The abrupt end to spring sports competitions leaves senior athletes unable to finish their last seasons as planned.
“I gave my life to baseball,” senior infielder Troy Viola said. “All this time and effort I exerted to make my dream of playing professional baseball a reality and in hopes of getting Spartan Baseball their first [Mountain West] championship in a long time . . . all just to have my senior year ripped out of my hands. It’s devastating.”
Tuite later went on to outline a timetable of the scheduled suspension in an updated statement later on Wednesday.
“San Jose State University Athletics will suspend all team practices and close its athletics facilities beginning Friday, March 13, through Sunday, April 5. This period includes the University's spring break scheduled from Monday, March 30, through Friday, April 3,” Tuite said in the statement.
SJSU spring sports affected by the suspension include baseball, softball, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s track and field, women’s gymnastics, women’s beach volleyball, women’s tennis and women’s water polo.
The NCAA also released a statement on Thursday saying Division I men's and women's 2020 basketball tournaments are canceled, as well as all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships. Previously, NCAA President Mark Emmert said Wednesday that upcoming games would be conducted with only essential staff and limited family in attendance.
With the suspension of all spring competitions for the foreseeable future, many SJSU senior athletes may have seen their collegiate careers cut short.
However, in a statement made by the NCAA Friday, council leadership says it has agreed that eligibility relief is appropriate for all Division I student-athletes who participated in spring sports and that details of eligibility relief will be finalized at a later time.
“They are waiting, [to] see what kind of relief the NCAA grants for seniors. They've insinuated that they are going to, but man, there's a lot of moving parts for that to happen,” softball head coach Peter Turner said.
Turner said Division I teams would face a complicated situation if seniors were to come back and play out their last collegiate seasons.
“For every senior coming out, we have freshmen coming in. My roster limit is 24 and I don’t wish to carry 29 players on the team,” Turner said. “But having said that, I would love nothing more to have my seniors back because they're all big producers for me.”
The suspension of spring sports not only will entirely affect Division I teams but all SJSU Club Sports as well.
“It’s a really tough pill to swallow for our entire team,” bowling club senior Kasey Uyesugi said. “There’s some of us that have been on the team for 3-4 years, working hard to have a shot at winning a national title and now we don’t get that chance? It’s a pretty sad and bitter way to end our season.”
Club Sports supervisor Winston Adams informed all club teams Wednesday in an email that all travel, home competitions, practices and all team activities will be suspended through the end of spring break.
“Competing at the highest level is what we work toward every year and this team will not have the chance to put it all out there,” bowling club head coach Lindsey Wong said. “I appreciate the time and effort everyone, and especially [our four seniors], put into this program to help it be a fun, competitive and memorable experience for all. This was certainly a special group of players that I will miss.”
