The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) has suspended athletic activities until further notice. UTM has followed suit by cancelling athletic events for the remainder of the 2019-20 academic year.
On Mar. 12, the OVC Board of Presidents announced that effective immediately, all schools that participate in athletic competitions under the OVC are to suspend athletic activities. This includes competitions and formal practices due to the recent emergence of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) health threat that has struck the U.S.
All recruiting-related events will also be put on hold at least until Apr. 3, at which time the impact of the conference’s ban will be evaluated.
“The main priority of the OVC is to ensure the health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and administrators,” the OVC said in a press release. “The league will continue to monitor all relevant information on COVID-19 on a daily basis.”
UTM, who participates under the OVC in every sport except rodeo and equestrian, will no longer to be able to compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-sanctioned competitions for the remainder of the academic year, according to Sports Information.
This decision comes a day after UTM suspended classes for Mar. 12 and 13 to transition all classes to online-only until at least Apr. 3 following a decision by the University of Tennessee system on Mar. 11. UTM’s sister schools in Knoxville and Chattanooga are also under temporary suspension.
“The health and well-being of our student-athletes is always our primary concern,” Skyhawk athletic director Kurt McGuffin said.
“In accordance with the OVC’s decision today, we regret to announce that the rest of the 2019-20 UTM Athletics season has been canceled. It is truly an unfortunate and disappointing situation but it is necessary given the COVID-19 spread. There are still a lot of unknowns and we ask for patience during this time.”
The National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA), which UTM’s equestrian team falls under, announced that it will be cancelling its championship event. As for rodeo, the 52nd Annual Spring College Rodeo that is still set for April 16-18 will be evaluated, per Sports Information.
All team schedules, with the exception of rodeo at the time of writing, marked all unplayed games and competitions as cancelled on Sports Information’s website.
UTM and the school’s athletics department will continue to provide updates as they become available.
