SPOKANE, Wash. — The likelihood that fans will see any fall sports competition at Gonzaga greatly diminished on Thursday.
The conference announced they will postpone conference fall sports competitions to the spring. The conference will still allow schools to schedule non-conference competitions in low-risk sports in the fall. However, there is no clarification on what constitutes a low risk sport in the conferences' eyes.
“Gonzaga Athletics supports the West Coast Conference decision to postpone fall sports, and we share in the disappointment with our student-athletes, coaches and staff," said Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth. "They have put in so much work and have shown so much patience through all of this that they deserve our gratitude. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought major challenges and uncertainty, which has created difficult decisions."
"Health and safety are paramount to the process, and we strive to take all aspects of the student-athlete experience into consideration. We believe that, with guidance from health officials and medical experts, this is the right call at this time," the statement continues. "We know that doesn’t make it any easier for our programs, but the well-being of student-athletes will remain our top priority. We are looking forward to resuming athletic competition when it is safe to do so, and we want to commend WCC Commissioner Gloria Nevarez and the university presidents for their leadership during this time.”
Gonzaga playing any fall sports non-conference competition seems slim to none, as all Division I schools in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana belong to conferences who have already shut down fall sports competition entirely.
The Big Sky and the WAC on Thursday morning announced that they will not have any sports compete this fall, while the Pac-12 made the same announcement on Tuesday.
