Penn State Postpones Fall Sports of its Branch Campus Conference
The Penn State University Athletic Conference, which sponsors sports at 14 university branch campuses, has postponed its 2020 fall schedule.
The conference said in a statement that the decision was based on campus facilities and staff sizes at each of the participating schools. The conference has not made a decision on winter and spring sports.
"We have been closely monitoring the national landscape regarding intercollegiate athletics on smaller campuses as well as the developments related to the coronavirus and its impact on our students at all Penn State campuses for the fall semester,” Maureen Cooper, director of commonwealth campus athletics, said in a statement. "The health and safety of our student-athletes is first and foremost and developing safety protocols has been the utmost priority the last several months, but unfortunately, there are too many factors that prohibit the PSUAC and its campuses from safely delivering a competitive atmosphere that our student-athletes deserve."
Fourteen Penn State branch campuses participate in the PSUAC: Beaver, Brandywine, DuBois, Fayette, Greater Allegheny, Hazleton, Lehigh Valley, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Schuylkill, Scranton, Shenango, Wilkes-Barre and York.
The PSUAC sponsors six fall sports: men and women's soccer, women's volleyball, men and women's cross country and golf. The programs compete in national events under the umbrella of the U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association, a group of mostly small colleges. The PSUAC said it would advocate for its student-athletes to compensate for lost opportunities because of the postponements.
The PSUAC also sponsors men and women's basketball in the winter, baseball and softball during the spring.
Penn State said it would work with athletic directors and medical personnel at the branch campuses to provide other opportunities for student-athletes during the fall season.
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