Citrus College cancelled all spring sports due to the spread of COVID-19 in accordance with orders from the board of directors of the California Community College Athletics Association.
“The remainder of the 2020 spring sports season will be canceled,” the CCCAA said in a statement on their website on March 19.
The CCCAA also said they issued a ban on face-to-face athlete recruitment and any travel- related to recruiting in accordance with federal and state guidelines.
The face-to-face ban was set to stand until April 15.
The CCCAA board of directors had assessed the situation and decided to continue in accordance with social distancing guidelines after April 15.
The guidelines included public gatherings, avoiding crowds and limiting face-to-face contact as much as possible, an effort to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
The CCCAA website said the cancellation of spring sports affects 9,500 students across California.
However, the CCCAA said in a statement affected students will have their 2020 seasons voided in an effort to spare students from ineligibility. The ineligibility comes into play when you look at the players’ “clock”, since all student athletes are under one.
The “clock” refers to the CCCAA Rules and Regulations . The rules said “students will be deemed athletically ineligible upon completion of their second season of sport specific competition”.
Due to the ban, all sports were cancelled and that put around 9,500 student-athletes that are connected with the organization in danger of ineligibility. However the CCCAA also said the ban comes with a season of competition restored.
“Players are not eligible to participate in more than four seasons of intercollegiate competition in any one sport,” said the National College Athletics Association in its Rules and Regulations manual.
The NCAA extended eligibility for its spring athletes and provided one additional season of competition based around the same guidelines to remain safe from COVID-19.
This eligibility restoration applies to players with a “student-athlete” status in the CCCAA, the NCAA and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
The NCAA is extending the “clock” for all players affected by the spring 2020 season’s cancellation.
The NAIA has taken the same precautionary measures, as they have canceled their 2020 spring season as well.
“The growing state of emergency due to COVID-19, as well as the Center for Disease Control’s recommendation yesterday to limit gatherings to fewer than 50 people for eight weeks, meant we could not in good conscience move forward with the spring sports season and championships,” NAIA President and CEO Jim Carr said in an article published on the NAIA website.
The NAIA has not released any updates since the cancellation of the 2020 spring sports cancellation announced on March 16.
The CCCAA and NCAA continue to release updates regarding how each organization will proceed for the future of student-athletes amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
