Empire 8 President's Council Postpones Fall Sports
Elmira, NY (07/16/2020) — On Wednesday, July 15, the Empire 8 President's Council announced the postponement of all fall competition. Individual Empire 8 institutions continue to have the ability to engage in athletic-related activity to provide beneficial opportunities for student-athletes and teams in accordance with local health policy.
"We know this news is extremely tough for our student-athletes as they prepare to head back to campus this fall," said Dr. Charles Lindsay, Elmira College President and E8 President's Council Member. "However, the health and safety of our students and our EC community is our first responsibility. We intend to have our student-athletes and teams engaged in activities as much as possible this fall to help them maintain their conditioning and skill levels in anticipation of possible spring competition."
According to the Empire 8 announcement, the league is committed to providing all fall student-athletes with a meaningful conference regular season and championship tournament experience in the spring of 2021 provided it is safe to do so.
The league had been working to prepare for the fall season and had adopted the NCAA Guidelines for the Resocialization of Sport, developed a detailed Pandemic Protocol Handbook and approved modified schedules for the season.
Decisions surrounding winter sports competition will be made a later time. The full Empire 8 announcement is available on the EC Athletics website.