Nov 11, 2020 3 min read

There will be no Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference football champion this school year.

And no women’s volleyball, field hockey, men’s or women’s soccer champion, either.

The PSAC, of which California University is a member, announced Wednesday morning the cancellation of all mandated regular season and championship competitions for fall sports that were to take place over the 2020-21 school year.

The decision came following a majority vote of the PSAC’s Board of Directors, which includes the 18 presidents representing each member school.

“The presidents ultimately made the decision,” said California athletic director Karen Hjerpe. “They did what’s best for the student-athletes on their campuses.”

Back in July, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the PSAC announced that it was suspending all athletic competitions through the fall semester with plans to move them to the spring of 2021. Fall sports teams were permitted to conduct offseason programs. The NCAA, however, recently canceled all of its 2020 fall championships for Division II.

“With the COVID situation, we were not on campus,” Hjerpe pointed out. “Our student-athletes won’t be returning to campus until January. Our coaches in each sport have kept up with the student-athletes virtually through Zoom meetings and they have given them offseason workout plans.”

While there is no current plans for the PSAC to conduct falls sports in the spring, the conference did not slam the door shut on the possibility. In a release, the PSAC stated that should six or more member schools commit to participating in any of those sports, the conference will reinstate a championship season. PSAC members Gannon and Mercyhurst released statements saying they would be interested in participating in fall sports if conditions are conducive to playing.

The PSAC said a decision on winter sports – wrestling, men’s and women’s basketball and indoor track – will be made next week. The conference is planning to conduct spring sports seasons.

A recent report in the Erie Times said that the PSAC was targeting Sunday, Jan. 17 as the start date for its men’s and women’s basketball seasons. Teams would play three games each week – Monday, Wednesday and Saturday – and have two open dates over a six-week season. The regular season would end Feb. 27 followed by the conference tournament the first week of March.

One drawback for basketball is, under current NCAA guidelines, players are to be tested three times each week for COVID-19, an expensive proposition for any Division II school.

“We should get additional guidelines for other sports later this week,” Hjerpe said. “The winter sports could depend on risk-level guidelines.”

PSAC East Division member West Chester announced last month that it will not field sports teams for the remainder of the 2020-21 school year because of COVID-19 concerns.