The glimmer of hope for spring sport competitions at Barton Community College and its member institutions came to an end Monday in announcement from their governing athletic body, the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).
From the NJCAA: Following the recent recommendations from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the NJCAA has made the difficult decision to cancel all upcoming basketball championships as well as spring competition, effective immediately.
"In light of the progressive evolvement of the COVID-19 situation, the NJCAA has decided to end all competition for the remainder of the academic year," stated Dr. Christopher Parker, NJCAA President & CEO. "As an association, the NJCAA exhausted all possible avenues to potentially postpone competition for both upcoming basketball championships and spring sport competition. We believe following the recommendations of the CDC is in the best interest of our member colleges and our student-athletes."
Spring competition includes all practices, regular season, postseason, and national championship play.
Regarding eligibility for spring sports, no spring sport student-athlete who was enrolled at a member college in 2020 will be charged a year of participation.
Along with the cancellation of competition, all on and off-campus recruiting for all sports will be halted until April 15 with further evaluation to be assessed at that point in time.
The NJCAA will explore the opportunity to expand allowable Letters of Intent for spring sports for both the 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years under the recommendation of the NJCAA Eligibility Committee.
The NJCAA will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as more information becomes available.
Information regarding the NJCAA can be found at www.njcaa.org
Barton is additionally closely monitoring the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak as our top priority is the safety and well-being of the students, faculty, staff and our surrounding communities. We understand and respect the concern and uneasiness surrounding the current situation.
As the situation continues to be fluid and unprecedented, questions and answers are continually being asked and responded to. A page on the College's website has been established to communicate Barton's monitoring of the situation and dynamic action plans: www.bartonccc.edu/covid19
The suspension of competition will allow everyone to assess the current situation and plan accordingly. The KJCCC will continue to communicate any updates.
During the suspension of athletic competitions, practices will still be allowed for now and in accordance to each respective member's institutional policies.
For complete statement from the KJCCC, visit www.kjccc.org
Barton Community College is additionally closely monitoring the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak. Barton's top priority is the safety and well-being of the students, faculty, staff and our surrounding communities. We understand and respect the concern and uneasiness surrounding the current situation, thus we wanted to provide some updates and our initial action plan.
A page on the College's website has been established to communicate Barton's monitoring of the situation and can be found at: www.bartonccc.edu/covid19
