KANSAS CITY, Mo. (October 1, 2020) – The MIAA CEO Council met Thursday, October 1 to discuss a number of items in regard to fall sports to be conducted in the spring of 2021 and the start of the 2020-2021 winter sports season.
According to information released by MIAA, the association will not develop a formal football schedule or conduct a cross country championship this academic year, and it will not crown a champion in either sport. MIAA football programs will be permitted to set up no more than four joint practices, scrimmages, or games with outside competition or other MIAA members this spring as each member institution deems appropriate for its program. As a result of this action, a few MIAA schools have decided to pursue limited independent schedules in both sports this fall. These independent events are non-conference contests as permitted per NCAA regulations and will not count against the four permitted spring joint practices, scrimmages or games.
The CEO Council was also updated on the Association’s Athletics Administrators Committee (AAC) review of possible formal 2021 spring seasons for volleyball and women’s soccer. At the current time, and based on current health and testing conditions, it is the intent of the MIAA to offer sport seasons this spring for MIAA schools to compete against each other, and possibly non-conference opponents, in the sports of volleyball and women’s soccer. Issues concerning the season structure, team schedules, conference awards and statistics, spring tournaments, and other sport issues will continue to be discussed by each sport’s MIAA Monitoring Group.
With regards to the men’s and women’s basketball season, the group had discussions about the recently released NCAA Sports Science Institute’s Core Principles of Resocialization of Collegiate Basketball. The CEO Council noted concerns about the document’s new testing recommendations and travel considerations for men’s and women’s basketball and it agreed to continue to monitor NCAA, CDC, and local government guidance on testing protocols and resources. At the present time, MIAA schools are planning to begin the college basketball season as scheduled on October 15 with games scheduled to tip-off on November 18 and 19.
The sports of men’s and women’s indoor track and field and wrestling were also discussed and the CEO Council agreed to provide institutional discretion with the start of each sport. The group noted that with no formal MIAA indoor track and field and wrestling schedules, each institution can determine the start date for those sports.