ST. LOUIS — The Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) announced Friday that there will be no conference sports in the fall of 2020.
The decision impacts men’s and women’s cross country, men’s soccer and women’s volleyball at Bradley University.
With the cancellation of fall collegiate sports around the country, Bradley Soccer Head Coach Jim DeRose said it was something they saw coming.
“Each conference went through a different process. Certainly, it started with the medical experts in the respective leagues,” said DeRose. “So, we were anticipating [the postponement].”
While the athletes won’t be playing, the MVC said that student-athletes will still be allowed to participate in athletically-related activities such as team meetings, practices and strength and conditioning sessions as long as they are consistent with institutional policies, public health guidelines and NCAA and Conference regulations.
DeRose added that he expects the NCAA to release regulations soon regarding what teams are able to do.
“I would assume the NCAA will have to make some recommendations and pass some regulations regarding what practice will look like,” said DeRose. “I think everybody’s waiting for that.”
DeRose said that all international Bradley soccer players are back on campus and finishing their quarantine period before attending classes.
The MVC is, however, still evaluating ways to hold competitions for fall sports in the spring of 2021. DeRose said he would be in favor of a spring season as long as it can be done safely.
“Right now I think there’s ample time to evaluate what a spring championship would look like,” said DeRose while acknowledging there would be challenges associated such as staffing and facilities. “I believe if it can be done properly and safely, then we should give these young people every opportunity to compete for a championship.”
Plans for MVC winter and spring sports are not currently impacted by the conference’s decision to postpone fall sports.
