A day after the Ivy League announced its cancellation (and potential postponement) of fall sports and all athletic competition before Jan. 1, the ACC bought itself some more time.
The ACC released a statement on Thursday morning, declaring that the conference’s Olympic Sports—men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer, and volleyball—will delay the start of competition until at least Sept. 1. That, of course, includes exhibitions and non-conference matchups, which are typically the events scheduled for August.
The decision was unanimously approved by the ACC Board of Directors.
“The decision allows each campus to further focus on ensuring return to competition protocols are in place to facilitate the resocialization process,” the statement reads.
Even if this delay included football, Boston College wouldn’t have to budge. The Eagles’ Week 1 home opener against Syracuse is slated for Friday, Sept. 4. Unlike last year, no ACC team is scheduled to kick off the 2020 campaign before Sept. 2.
This delay, however, will change the plans of BC’s non-revenue fall sports. BC Athletics issued a press release on Thursday afternoon, detailing the number of BC Olympic Sports games affected.
BC men’s and women’s soccer programs appear to be suffering the biggest blow—unless exhibitions and non-conference matches are pushed back into September. BC men’s soccer was scheduled to have two scrimmages and two games before Sept. 1, while the women’s soccer team was expected to play one exhibition and four games.
Last year, starting on Aug. 20, BC men’s soccer played two exhibitions and one regular season match prior to September. The women’s soccer team began scrimmaging on Aug. 12 and had two exhibitions as well as three games, including its annual Green Line rivalry matchup with Boston University.
Meanwhile, BC field hockey was scheduled to have two scrimmages and one game this August. In 2019, the program suited up for just one game before the calendar flipped to September: an Aug. 30 match at Providence.
As far as volleyball is concerned, BC’s team was supposed to play one exhibition and three games in August, just like last year. It’s worth noting that, in 2019, all three of BC volleyball’s August matches were part of the Oregon Classic in Eugene, whereas the rest of BC’s Olympic Sports’ pre-September activity took place on the East Coast (primarily in New England).
BC men’s and women’s cross country seem to be unaffected by the ACC delay, as they are not mentioned in BC Athletics’ release. The programs haven’t had an event before Sept. 1 each of the past three seasons, according to their team schedules on BCEagles.com.
The league’s statement mentions that each individual ACC school will have the jurisdiction of rescheduling contests. It also concludes with an important advisory about potential upcoming changes to fall sports:
“The league continues to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on fall schedules and competitions with the understanding that there may be future changes, and that the priority remains the health and safety of our student-athletes.”
