SWEET BRIAR, Va. — After extensive deliberations, the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Presidents Council voted to postpone conference competition and championships for fall and winter sports through the end of the 2020 calendar year (December 31). The ODAC remains focused on providing meaningful competition for all student-athletes in 2020-21, which includes an intention to sponsor conference competition for fall and winter sports in the spring semester.
Sweet Briar College student-athletes will begin regularly scheduled team activities, including practices, skill instruction and strength and conditioning beginning on August 10, with the intent to provide the most complete experience possible for student-athletes. The scheduling change will allow more time for individual and team skill instruction, leadership development and team bonding.
With a priority to help ensure the safe reopening of the Sweet Briar College campus for classes and other on-campus activities, Sweet Briar athletics will continue to evaluate the possibility for intercollegiate competition during the 2020 calendar year outside of the traditional ODAC schedule, with an emphasis on the safe progression through the three-week on-campus term.
"Our coaches will keep our student-athletes engaged with emphasis on skill development, strength and conditioning, leadership and team-building activities," said Sweet Briar College Athletics Director Jodi Canfield. "We need to see this as an opportunity to have very focused, intentional conversations about sport, health, wellness, and teamwork. The campus of Sweet Briar is the most beautiful place to have these conversations."
With a campus of 2,840 acres suitable for safe and spacious wellness and recreational activities, Sweet Briar athletics intends to make full use of outdoor resources on campus.
To help the ODAC and its member schools provide their student-athletes with the most complete athletic experience possible, NCAA Division III is considering a blanket waiver that would provide unprecedented scheduling flexibility.
Sweet Briar and the ODAC will continue to explore all options for a safe return to intercollegiate athletics. The ODAC leadership will communicate further developments regarding competition in 2020-21 as solutions are finalized and implemented.
"The conference's leadership worked extremely hard to explore ways we might have conducted conference championships and competition in the fall," explained ODAC Commissioner Brad Bankston. "Those conversations involved a number of options, but none of them could change the current impact of the virus and its prevalence in our society. A safe return for students and the sustainability of campus life is a priority for all our members."
"The circumstances in which we find ourselves are unprecedented," said Bankston. "The combination of fall, winter, and spring sports in the second semester is challenging, but the ODAC is committed to providing all student-athletes with a meaningful conference regular season and championship experience in a safe manner. We look forward to the return of ODAC athletic competition."
