October 16, 2020

Today the North Coast Athletic Conference announced it is canceling conference competition and championships for the winter 2020-21 season in response to the worsening COVID-19 pandemic. Ohio Wesleyan winter sports affected are men's & women's basketball, men's & women's swimming & diving, and men's & women's track & field.  The Ohio Wesleyan wrestling team is not directly affected by this announcement as wrestling is not an NCAC sport.  You can read the NCAC announcement by clicking here.

Our number one concern remains the long-term health and safety of our entire campus community. Unfortunately, there is still much uncertainty around the coronavirus, including its spread, testing, prevention, and treatment. I know how disappointing this news is for students, families, coaches, and staff. Our student-athletes work extremely hard academically and athletically, and I know they want to compete more than anything at this point.

The NCAC decision is specific to formal conference competition and championships. The decision gives Ohio Wesleyan greater flexibility regarding outside competition - as long as all medical guidelines and testing protocols can be met. We at OWU are determined to try to provide a competitive opportunity for our winter sport athletes. We will explore the possibility of competitions with other interested institutions inside or outside of the NCAC.

Of course, everything is predicated on the testing guidelines set by the NCAA, NCAC, state, and local health organizations, and the CDC. We will be working with our coaches on formulating tentative schedules based on the academic calendar of the University.  First and foremost, all decisions will be guided with the health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches, and staff as the guiding principle.  

It is with deep regret that I share this news. My heart goes out to all winter student-athletes. I feel especially badly for our many seniors whose intercollegiate athletic careers may end with this news.

Our coaches and staff remain committed to doing what we can to provide our student-athletes with the best experience possible under the circumstances. We will do our best to facilitate practices and, we hope, competition at some level, along with gatherings for programming and team meetings within the University's guidelines.

I admire the resilience of our student-athletes and how they have pushed through the difficulties and challenges so far. I know we will all work together to support each other through this. One of the many life lessons athletics teaches is working through adversity and coming out on top. We all remain committed to achieving greatness in the classroom and making a lasting impact on campus.

We will continue to share information and updates as they develop.  The latest Ohio Wesleyan information will be available on battlingbishops.com


Sincerely,

Doug Zipp
Director of Athletics