No Athletics In Princeton As Ivy League Cancels Winter Sports

PRINCETON, NJ — The Ivy league Council of Presidents made a unanimous decision on Nov. 12 to cancel winter sports due to growing COVID-19 cases, the Ivy league said in statement.

Additionally, all intercollegiate athletic competition for spring has been postponed till after Feb 2021.

“The unanimous decisions by the Ivy League Council of Presidents follow extended consideration of options and strategies to mitigate the transmission of the COVID-19 virus, an analysis of current increasing rates of COVID-19 – locally, regionally and nationally – and the resulting need to continue the campus policies related to travel, group size and visitors to campus that safeguard the campus and community,” the Ivy League said in a statement.

The Division I conference became the first to cancel all winter sports, including men’s and women’s basketball.

Princeton University president Christopher Eisgruber informed the university’s athletics department of the decision in a webinar, reported The Daily Princetonian.

According to the student newspaper, Eisgruber said their top priority currently was to get students back on campus and operating safely in the midst of rising COVID cases.

Meanwhile, the media release from Ivy League said winter and fall sports student-athletes will not lose a season of Ivy League or NCAA eligibility. “whether or not they enroll.”

“Students who wish to pursue competition during a fifth-year of undergraduate education at their home institution, if permitted, or as a graduate student elsewhere will need to work with their institutions in accordance with campus policy to determine their options beyond their current anticipated graduation date,” the statement read.

Meanwhile, athletics training and practices for enrolled student-athletes will be permitted, according to guidelines set by each university.

In a joint statement, the Ivy League Council of Presidents said: “Student-athletes, their families and coaches are again being asked to make enormous sacrifices for the good of public health — and we do not make this decision lightly. While these decisions come with great disappointment and frustration, our commitment to the safety and lasting health of our student-athletes and wider communities must remain our highest priority.”

Mollie Marcoux Samaan, Princeton's Ford Family Director of Athletics, said she was "deeply saddened" for student-athletes.

"The Council of Ivy League Presidents, the Ivy League leadership team and the Athletics Directors continue to put considerable thought into how to manage this global pandemic and while it was determined that we are still not able to compete safely, the commitment to Athletics and it's critical and fully integrated role on our campuses has only been strengthened by our collective commitment to the safety and well-being of students, staff and the greater campus communities," Samaan said in a statement.

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