Kellogg Community College, following the guidance of the National Junior College Athletic Association and Michigan Community College Athletic Association, will adjust its competitive athletics schedule this fall and move most fall sports competitions to the spring semester.
The move, approved by member colleges at both organizations Monday, is a precautionary measure related to the COVID-19 pandemic meant to protect student athletes and fans and mitigate the potential spread of the disease.
Under the new arrangement, all fall sports competition for KCC except for men’s and women’s cross country events will move to the spring semester. This includes competition for the College’s men’s and women’s basketball teams, women’s soccer team and women’s volleyball team, in addition to the men’s and women’s bowling teams and baseball team, which are already scheduled to compete in the spring.
Competition for KCC’s men’s and women’s cross country teams would be permitted beginning Aug. 20, with practices beginning Aug. 1. Practice and competition schedules for KCC’s other sports are permitted as follows:
- Baseball: Fall practices permitted; competition allowed after Jan. 21
- Men’s and Women’s Basketball: Fall practices permitted; competition allowed after Jan. 21
- Men’s and Women’s Bowling: Fall practices permitted; competition begins Jan. 8
- Women’s Soccer: Fall practices permitted; competition allowed after April 1
- Women’s Volleyball: Fall practices permitted; competition allowed after Jan. 28
A limited scrimmage schedule will also be allowed for each team following the permitted start date for fall practices.
KCC Athletics and Physical Education Director Tom Shaw said the change will not adversely affect current student athletes this fall; the new schedules simply move fall sports contests to second-semester play. This is similar to the regular schedule for the baseball team, which generally holds practices and scrimmages in the fall but competes during the spring semester.
“The role of the student athlete at KCC will not change in any shape or form,” Shaw said. “Fall student athletes will keep their athletic scholarship, they’re on the team and they will have some sort of practice.”
The athletics adjustment is the latest of several developments at KCC since the College first closed its facilities in mid-March due executive orders and guidance from government and health officials. The College officially reopened to the public in June, and the summer semester is underway with instruction offered in a mostly online format. Fall semester classes, the first of which begin Aug. 31, will be offered in a mix of traditional, online and hybrid formats.
For more information about athletics at KCC, visit www.kellogg.edu/athletics. KCC’s detailed campus reopening plan is available on the College’s Campus Reopening Plan web page at www.kellogg.edu/campus-reopening-plan.
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