OMAHA (KMTV) — Creighton and the rest of the BIG EAST Conference announced late Wednesday afternoon that it is postponing its fall sports season until at least the spring semester of 2021.
This includes volleyball, men's and women's soccer. The decision does not effect basketball at the time being.
Comments from CU athletic director Bruce Rasmussen:
"For the past five months, we have asked medical professionals to give us an answer as to how to safely conduct collegiate sports with the best interests of student-athletes, fans and staff as our primary responsibility. The mental and physical health and welfare of our student-athletes has been the focus of every decision we have made regarding our ability to have fall sports competitions. Many Creighton athletics staff have worked incredibly hard to create as safe an environment as possible for our teams to practice and prepare for the season, but there is simply too much unknown risk for us to proceed with the confidence we need to launch our competitive sports seasons.
We are confident that Creighton University has the protocols in place to create and maintain a safe campus environment, but sports are simply different from other campus activities. There is a completely different threshold between being able to practice in a controlled environment on our campus with all of our protocols, and in being able to conduct competition involving travel and testing with no way to preserve physical distancing during competition, and masking can make competition very difficult. As a result, playing the fall season would pose risks that we think are not acceptable for our student-athletes and our athletics staff.
This is a difficult moment for all of us – student-athletes, coaches, staff, students, donors and fans. We are particularly heartbroken for the student-athletes and coaches who put so much time and effort into preparing for competition. Today's decision affects fall sports only, and we are still hopeful that we can find a path forward so that their seasons can be played in spring 2021. There are many obstacles to overcome for this to happen, but we will begin planning in case that is possible. At this point, no decisions have been made regarding winter sports.
Despite this postponement, we will continue to provide support and educate and care for our student-athletes. That is central to our Athletic Department mission, and includes continuing their scholarships, academic advising and support, health insurance, and meals. This also includes the safe and successful opening of the fall semester on our campus, so that all students have an opportunity to move forward in their education.
We appreciate the continued support and understanding of all those associated with Creighton Athletics and the fans who cheer them on and look forward to the day we can safely resume competition in college athletics."
