SUNY Broome Community College is planning to offer the sports of Baseball, Esports, Softball, and Tennis for the spring of 2021. The decision to move forward with low risk and traditional spring sports is being made with the understanding that the health and safety of our student-athletes and staff are our first priority. SUNY Broome will work with the Broome County Department of Health and NJCAA Region III to ensure we are moving forward with proper health and safety protocols in place, and these plans have the potential to change.
The traditional fall and winter sports of Basketball, Cheerleading, Soccer, and Volleyball will not practice in the spring of 2021.
The NJCAA SUNY Community Colleges’ statement regarding spring sports follows:
SUNY Community Colleges, that are members of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), have continued collaborative efforts to assess and plan for what we hope will be the safe resumption of spring sports, including traditional fall sports that have been moved to spring, per NJCAA 2021 Sports Guidelines.
Campuses will have the option to either cancel intercollegiate athletics, sponsor Return to Play/Practice (RTP) or Return to Competition (RTC) Plans. RTP Plans offer the option to hold on-campus workouts and training with student-athletes, in a structured and monitored environment, without engaging in competition. Detailed, sport specific RTC Guides have been developed, and while there will be autonomy on each campus for health and safety policies, SUNY CCs will adopt RTC requirements that each member institution will be expected to follow in order to compete. RTC Guides were informed by governing athletic associations, and made to be consistent with CDC, NYS Guidelines, SUNY and local DOH, and institutional recommendations and protocols.
Each institution’s RTP and/or RTC Plans are dependent on local COVID-19 data, being able to safely resume operations and being approved by their respective local DOH. NJCAA SUNY Community College decisions will continue to be guided by best practice and cautious adherence to health and safety protocols intended to safeguard the well-being of our student-athletes, staff, campuses, and communities. We commit to ongoing collaborative efforts in support of our student-athletes.
Submitted by: Brett Carter
