Southland Conference postpones fall sports amid COVID-19 pandemic
FRISCO, Texas (KTRK) -- The Southland Conference postponed all fall sports because of growing concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic with the intent to explore the possibility of holding competition in the spring semester, they announced Thursday in a statement.
SEE RELATED STORY: What losing football to COVID-19 would mean for Texas college towns: 'It's like losing Christmas'
The following sports will be affected:
- Football
- Volleyball
- Women's soccer
- Cross country
SEE RELATED STORY: Big Ten and Pac-12 pull plug on fall football amid pandemic
Presidents of the 13 Southland members authorized planning for spring semester championship events for volleyball, soccer and cross country, they wrote in a statement.
"Protecting competitive opportunities in a safe manner for our student-athletes was paramount in the review, and a delay to the spring allows campuses and athletic departments to get a better handle on issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic," Dr. Houston Davis, board chair and president of the University of Central Arkansas said.
This affects the following universities in the conference:
- Abilene Christian University
- University of Central Arkansas
- Houston Baptist University
- University of the Incarnate Word
- Lamar University
- McNeese State University
- University of New Orleans
- Nicholls State University
- Northwestern State University
- Sam Houston State University
- Southeastern Louisiana University
- Stephen F. Austin State University
- Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
HBU shared the following statement in response to the cancellation on their website:
"HBU plans to honor existing contracts for non-conference competitions in football, volleyball and women's soccer. Football's road games at FBS opponents North Texas (Sept. 5), Texas Tech (Sept. 12) and Louisiana Tech (Sept. 19) remain unaffected at this time."
Bobby Williams, the SHSU director of athletics, released the statement below on Twitter Thursday morning.
