Saint Xavier athletes still have questions across the board about what COVID-19 could do to their upcoming planned seasons. Although uncertainty may loom in the air about certain aspects of their seasons, an important statement brought some clarity to student-athletes nationwide earlier last week. The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced their decision not to charge fall and winter athletes a season of competition for the 2020-2021 academic year on Wednesday, November 4th.
“Due to the constraints that COVID-19 has imposed on collegiate athletics, most of our conferences believed it was in the best interest of our fall and winter student-athletes to not charge a season of competition this year,” said NAIA President and CEO Jim Carr. “Many factors were taken into account, but the underlying consideration was relieving pressure on both student-athletes, as well as institutions, as they continue to navigate the fall and winter seasons.”
The NAIA’s decision applies to the fall sports of men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer, football, and women’s volleyball. The decision also applies to the winter sports of men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s bowling, competitive cheer, competitive dance, men’s and women’s indoor track and field, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, and wrestling.
Although this decision does not affect 2020-2021 spring sports, this same decision was made for all spring sport athletes last spring of 2020. Baseball, men’s and women’s golf, women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s outdoor track and field, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, and men’s volleyball were not charged a season of competition for last spring. Therefore, we might see some returning seniors from the 2020 season in the spring of 2021.
This decision rings of good news for SXU fall and winter sports athletes of all school years. While this is music to most athletes’ ears, it is still up to the individual athletes to decide if they want to use this extra year of eligibility, especially the seniors. Not being charged for a season for the 2020-2021 academic year allows the fall and winter senior athletes the opportunity to play during the 2021-2022 academic year.
Based on the SXU fall and winter sports rosters, there are many seniors that could be returning to play next year. There are currently five seniors on SXU men’s cross country team, six on the women’s cross country team, six on the men’s soccer team, seven on the women’s soccer team, eight on the football team, four on the women’s volleyball team, six on the men’s basketball team, three on the women’s basketball team, eight on the men’s bowling team, seven on the women’s bowling team, four on the cheerleading team, two on the dance team, five on the men’s track and field team, and seven on the women’s track and field team. Altogether, that adds up to 78 senior athletes.
Although there will be seniors who will forgo the extra year of eligibility and graduate this year, there is a high likelihood that we will see many of these seniors again next year in their 2021-2022 seasons. SXU teams will be excited to put the abundance of talented seniors to use on the court and field next year, as many of them strive for conference and national championship titles.