Fall sports postponed
WCC, PFL call off fall competition, will explore options for spring
Eric Boose / Sports Editor
The West Coast Conference and Pioneer Football League have both postponed fall competition indefinitely, meaning that the five-month-long span without Torero athletics will continue into the fall. Men’s and women’s soccer, cross country, and women’s volleyball will not play any games against conference opponents, and conference championships will not be held this fall, the WCC announced last Thursday.
Torero football, which competes in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of Division I, will also go without conference action and playoffs. The PFL, a non-scholarship conference with members along the East Coast and in multiple Midwestern states, announced the cancellation of fall competition on August 7, and NCAA President Mark Emmert announced that the FCS playoffs would not take place this fall on August 13.
The WCC stated that they are working with leadership from the conference’s 10 campuses to “ensure a safe environment to conduct the 2020-21 WCC men’s and women’s basketball seasons in the winter,” and both the WCC and PFL have stated that they are exploring methods to hold fall competition in the spring of 2021. University of San Diego Associate Vice President and Executive Director of Athletics Bill McGillis has pledged to advocate for holding fall competitions in the spring, “if the environment on campus, in San Diego County, and nationally will permit.”
Even without competition this fall, USD’s athletic department is working to get Torero athletes back on the field just to practice.
“We are continuing to carefully monitor all guidelines provided by both the County and State, and we will communicate with our scholar-athletes and coaching staffs immediately upon determining the date on which we can begin fall activities and practice,” McGillis said in a statement following the WCC’s decision on August 13. “We know that there are many questions that come with this decision, and we are committed to getting those answers to our USD Athletics community as soon as possible.”
McGillis added that while it is possible that a sport would be canceled for the entire school year, he thinks it is unlikely.
“I can’t predict the full year, but I can tell you at a minimum I’m optimistic,” McGillis said in late July. “I’m cautiously optimistic that intercollegiate athletics will be played at USD during the 2020-2021 academic year.”
Despite the summer-long uncertainty surrounding collegiate athletics, USD has continuously prioritized a healthy and safe return to learning, according to McGillis.
“I think the focus at USD, rightfully so, has been on the delivery of education, returning to learning,” McGillis said. “I think the intercollegiate athletics piece of that is a small and secondary piece to a bigger landscape and more important decisions. I’m looking forward to returning to play and having the opportunity to play when we have determined as an institution and as members of our conferences that we can do so in a safe, healthy manner: in a manner that is in accordance with county and state guidance and any orders that might be in effect.”
Torero soccer coaches Louise Lieberman and Brian Quinn echoed McGillis’ emphasis on returning to play only when it is safe to do so.
“Safety first, we don’t want to put these student athletes in a bad situation, so delaying it, I think was the right decision,” Lieberman, head coach of the women’s soccer team, said. She also voiced her support for a potential spring season.
“However we can be safe first and have a championship season next, I am all in for it,” she said. “I definitely want a spring season. These girls have worked, all over the country, it’s not just us, everyone has worked so hard for this. These seniors have had four years to get here and they are here and they are ready and they are excited, and I want them to have this experience.”
Quinn, head coach of the men’s team, voiced his opinion that the United States does not have a handle on COVID-19, and that the country must be doing more in order for a return to competition to be safe.
“We are all anxious to get back on the field in some shape or form, and I think that we have to, not as a university but as a nation, recognize that it is a group, collective plan that is needed,” Quinn said. “We cannot have rogue actors out there doing what they want to do. I think that eventually, when we look at the statistics that are coming out worldwide, and the countries that have negated COVID-19, it is because there have been lockdowns and strict protocol that you have to follow, and that is what we need to do.”