Cal Sports Report

Cal Football: Testing Key to Whether Sports Can Resume in the Fall

Will all colleges across the country be able to have their sports programs up and running at the same time?
Jake Curtis|
Cal Football: Testing Key to Whether Sports Can Resume in the Fall
Cal Football: Testing Key to Whether Sports Can Resume in the Fall

There seems to be optimism among some members of the health community that college sports can resume in the fall, but the idea that a football game will be played in a stadium full of spectators appears unrealistic, at least for now.

A lot is still unsettled, and Cal fans can only hope that the Bears’ 2020 football season will materialize, especially since expectations are so high for this Cal squad.

Widespread testing seems to be the key when determining whether college sports can commence in the fall.

"It's not going to be risk-free, that's for sure," Dr. Brian Hairline, the NCAA’s chief medical officer, told The Associated Press via ESPN on Friday. "If this is rolled out in stages and reasonably, we're really paying attention to proper surveillance and we get the tests available, I think we can have fall sports.”

Dr. Amesh Amalja, an infectious disease MD working on pandemic policy at Johns Hopkins University, noted during an NCAA Sports Science Institute twitter interview that there are different opinions among experts about the feasibility of have college sports in the fall. But he, like Dr. Hairline, is on the optimistic side, saying he believes “we will be able to have school close to normal in the fall . . . . and we will be able to have sports, maybe in a modified fashion, but I do feel optimistic about it.”

Here is that NCAA Sports Science Institure twitter interview, which includes Dr. Hairline and a Division III baseball player:

However, Dr. Hairline noted that the notion of having spectators in the stands is not part of the discussion yet, and that it is probably unrealistic to expect large crowds at football games this fall.

On Friday, the NCAA announced a three-phase plan by its COVID19 Advisory Board for getting college sports teams up and running.

Before any of the phases can begin, schools must have a series of baseline elements in place. Once those requirements are met for at least 14 days, Phase One can begin. When the Phase One elements are achieved for 14 successive days, Phase Two can be implemented. And once the Phase Two guidelines are satisfied for 14 days, Phase Three can begin, allowing in-person interaction on sports teams.

That suggests that at least 42 days must pass from the time the initial requirements are in place until in-person interaction can occur between athletes during practice.

The next question is whether all three phases can be achieved at the same time at all Division I schools across the country, given the various rates of COVID-19 infections in different regions and the differing return-to-work orders of different states.

Dr. Hairline said in the NCAA Twitter interview that, from a safety standpoint, there must be a minimum amount of preparation time established before beginning competition.

But, he said, “From the competitive equity point of view I think it’s going to be regional.”

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Click the "follow" button in the top right corner to join the conversation on Cal Sports Report on SI. Access and comment on featured stories and start your own conversations and post external links on our community page.

Published
Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

Home/Football