The Hofstra University Department of Athletics suspended all fall sport competitions on Friday, July 17, due to COVID-19 safety concerns. The decision affects the field hockey, volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer, cross country, tennis and golf programs.
“It’s never an easy decision,” said Hofstra Vice President and Director of Athletics Rick Cole Jr.
According to the announcement, fall sports will be played in the spring semester, with winter and spring athletics currently scheduled to start on time.
The decision to postpone was made with a major emphasis on the welfare and safety of student-athletes, coaches and athletic staff, as well as fans.
“We all love the enterprise of intercollegiate athletics and what it brings to higher education, what it brings to our students and what it brings to our community. We just realized we needed more time,” Cole said.
With no competition set for the Pride this fall, that time will now serve as an opportunity to ease back into high-intensity play.
“These athletes haven’t been in organized athletics since March,” Cole said. “[This] will provide us with a vehicle to have the fall be a re-socialization to sport. And we can do it the right way without any form of limitations and urgency of competition.”
Practices on the teams’ respective fields and in the weight room will be allowed as long as national, state and university health guidelines are followed.
“Coaches know how to coach and we know how to run athletic departments but we [will] work collaboratively with the [health] experts to ensure we’re putting in a plan that’s going to be the very best plan that our student-athletes deserve,” Cole said.
Many plans to play the season in a safer manner were brainstormed before the outright suspension.
According to Cole, the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) adopted a “flexibility schedule model,” splitting the conference into two “pods” – a northern and southern pod – in which teams would have the choice of playing whoever they choose before all meeting in the conference tournament. This would have helped lessen travel and hotel stays, as well as the expenses and health risks involved with away competitions.
However, as time passed, other leagues around the nation announced conference-only schedules or entire-season postponements or cancellations.
“We made the right decision for student-athlete welfare but even if we wanted to play, the challenges of getting a full schedule were going to be incredibly difficult,” Cole said, using the women’s soccer program as an example.
While the news disappointed many, Cole says he recognizes that and is appreciative of the feedback he’s received.
“I’ve had my time. It’s their time, and we want to make sure that we’re maximizing that time,” Cole said.
He continued, “I’m really proud of our student-athletes and coaches who’ve responded to it with a championship mentality of going, ‘Okay, this is the best decision at the time. We’re going to pivot, recalibrate and we’ll come back stronger than ever.’”
COVID-19 has proven to be bigger than one athlete, team or an entire season of sports.
“We’re all in this together. This isn’t just a Hofstra Athletics thing. This isn’t just a Hofstra thing. This is a national, worldwide challenge,” Cole said.
“I know [the disappointment of suspending sports] as a dad. I know it as an athletic director, a vice president, whatever you want to call me. We’re all witnessing the challenges and the disruption [of this pandemic together],” Cole said. “How we’re going to be judged [is] how we pivot, respond and how we position our student-athletes for success.”
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
