CSS ATHLETICS RETURN TO CAMPUS PLAN | CSS ATHLETICS COVID-19 INFORMATION PAGE

***UMAC STATEMENT***
ST. PAUL (csssaints.com) – Following extensive discussions and planning, the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Council of Presidents/Chancellors supported a recommendation from the UMAC Council of Athletics Directors to cancel conference competition this fall in the sports of men's and women's cross country and men's and women's golf and will pursue opportunities for potential competition for these sports in the spring, including for men's and women's golf the conference championships that will determine the Automatic Qualifiers for the NCAA Division III Championships held in May 2021.
 
UMAC institutions remain focused on providing meaningful experiences for all student-athletes in the fall of 2020, which could include opportunities for practice, small-group training, skill development, strength and conditioning and leadership programming. Engagement in non-conference competition remains at the discretion of UMAC institutions and will not be governed by the UMAC.
 
With the recent changes to requirements for competition from the NCAA Board of Governors and the recommendation for no fall competition from the NCAA Division III Administrative Council announced Thursday, Aug. 20, the governing councils in the UMAC determined it best to not proceed with cross country and golf conference competition or the conference championships.
 
Additionally, the Councils reversed a previous decision to allow optional conference competition in the fall segment for the sports of men's and women's tennis. Institutions may engagement in non-conference competition at their own discretion in the fall for men's and women's tennis.
 
***Update on the Status of CSS Fall Sports***
On July 30, the UMAC announced that the high-risk sports, as determined by the NCAA Sports Science Institute (SSI), of football, men's and women's soccer, and volleyball will not hold conference competitions or championships this fall. With the announcement, the UMAC gave its institutions autonomy to provide outside competition for its athletes. At that time, St. Scholastica intended on proceeding cautiously in finding outside competition to play a limited schedule in those sports, while continuing to work within local, state and federal guidelines and recommendations to ensure the safest possible environment for the student-athletes.
 
However, since then the NCAA canceled Fall Championships on August 5 and, as mentioned above, recommended no fall competitions last Thursday.
 
Due to those most recent announcements, along with the accessibility and feasibility of testing requirements that coincide with the potential of competing, all CSS fall sports are no longer pursuing outside competition and will focus on development, both on and off the field. The fall teams will look towards a potential UMAC spring season as they hope to compete in UMAC competition one last time before the move to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) in 2021-22.  
 
"After the most recent NCAA announcement we once again have re-evaluated our approach to providing competitive opportunities for our student-athletes," said CSS Director of Athletics Franco Bari. "As these opportunities become more restrictive we are still adapting to new parameters, guidelines and restrictions while staying committed to providing the best experiences under these conditions for our student-athletes".
 
For up-to-date information check out the CSS Athletics COVID-19 Informational Page HERE