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Football might be known as a fall tradition, but at Westminster College, the pandemic has pushed the sport into the spring.
Westminster is affiliated with the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, which announced Thursday it will be providing conference competition for "high-risk" sports such as football in the spring.
Following in line, the Westminster team will use the fall semester to train, with skill instruction, strength training, practice, leadership development, as well as possible scrimmages.
"We plan to work hard this fall, despite scheduling changes, and are looking forward to a busy spring," Westminster athletic director Matthew Mitchell said in a news release.
Other Westminster sports, including cross country, golf, soccer, tennis and volleyball, are overseen by the St. Louis Intercollegiate Conference. It announced Monday that sports will continue with some alterations.
Competitions in men's and women's soccer and volleyball will take place in the spring. Like football, these teams will have nontraditional fall seasons with training, development and possible scrimmages.
Men's and women's cross country and women's golf, both considered low-risk sports, will continue with schedules unchanged.
Men's golf and men's and women's tennis has been moved to the fall.
"The Westminster Athletic Department is doing all it can to make sure our student-athletes have the safest athletic and academic experience possible this fall," Mitchell said.
William Woods
William Woods University is a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The association announced Tuesday it would also postpone national championships in sports such as cross country, soccer and volleyball until spring 2021, though conferences can still compete.
William Woods athletes will be screened daily if they have a team function such as a practice, game, team meeting or study table.
Daily health checks, as well as appropriate use of masks and testing, are among the recommendation set forth by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.