Athletics department makes decision in light of COVID-19
The UC Davis Department of Intercollegiate Athletics announced on Thursday that it would be suspending all remaining Winter Quarter and Spring Quarter competition, effective immediately, according to a press release.
The decision “was made in the interest of the health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and staff, administrators and fans,” per the release, and comes in the wake of the ongoing spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus.
Although the release states that the decision was made in conjunction with a similar announcement by the Big West Conference, the suspension applies to teams “of all conference affiliations, and includes out-of-season activity such as spring practice seasons for fall sports.” Sixteen of the 23 UC Davis athletics programs are members of the Big West Conference.
The suspension was issued just hours after Big West officials announced that both the conference’s men’s and women’s basketball tournaments had been canceled. The two opening round games of the women’s tournament were played on Wednesday without spectators, and the men’s tournament was set to begin at noon on Thursday.
The suspension also comes several days after the UC Davis administration elected to cancel all in-person final exams. As of Thursday, Yolo County is one of seven California counties to have a confirmed case of the novel coronavirus spread through community transmission, according to the California Department of Public Health.
There was no indication in the release on when or if any or all athletic events would resume.
Written by: Dominic Faria — sports@theaggie.org
