Intercollegiate athletics commenced in the fall 2021 semester with great expectations. While administrators did not think things would return to the way they were before the pandemic, hopes were high that, with precautions such as vaccination and masking requirements for spectators, college sports would not experience the cancellations, postponements, and disappointments of the 2020-21 academic year.
By December 2021, however, it became clear that players, coaches, administrators, and conferences would have to be nimble in responding to positive COVID-19 tests. The Omicron variant is highly contagious and, despite vaccinations, positive case numbers are continuing to spike as of late January. As a result, basketball games are being rescheduled when possible and canceled when necessary. Track and field athletes are withdrawing from meets. Fans are watching via streaming, and that’s how the ball bounces so far in 2022.
“We’re doing the best we can to be competently reactive to the outbreaks,” says Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman. “What’s happened was definitely unexpected. We seemed like we had turned a corner. … We did not expect the suddenness and the severity of Omicron.”
Facing reality
Fall sports took place largely uninterrupted. Basketball season started on time and games were being played on schedule. Depending on state regulations, athletic departments were following strict health protocols that included vaccination requirements for all student-athletes. Fans were in the stands again — showing proof of vaccination and masking in states that allowed those requirements — especially for basketball.
Coach Megan Griffith with Carly Rivera, a junior guard for Columbia University's basketball team.
“It kind of turned things upside down,” Ackerman says. “This set in motion for us a review of our protocols, many consultations with our doctors/infectious disease experts, and review of CDC guidelines, which have changed a couple of times in the last few weeks.”
