INDIANAPOLIS — Butler's five fall sports teams that compete in the BIG EAST Conference saw their season canceled Wednesday.
The sports affected are: men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country, and volleyball.
The Butler football team will also not be playing this fall after the Pioneer Football League canceled football earlier.
In Wednesday's announcement, the BIG EAST said it will be looking into staging fall sports in the spring.
The cancellations followed consultation with the BIG EAST COVID-19 Task Force, an intra-conference medical advisory group that includes administrators, doctors, athletic trainers, student-athletes and national experts in global pandemics and infectious diseases.
“The decision to not hold fall sports competition was not made lightly,” said Chair of the BIG EAST Board of Directors and Villanova University President the Reverend Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD. “Athletics play an integral role in the student, alumni and fan experience at each of our institutions, and we were all hoping to allow the fall seasons to move forward. However, given the guidance of the BIG EAST COVID-19 Task Force, this decision, while disappointing, was made with the health and safety of our student-athletes and staff in mind."
“This very difficult decision came after an exhaustive review by our presidents and athletics directors and followed consideration of NCAA guidance, COVID-19 case counts and trend lines nationally and in BIG EAST communities, and the many unknowns surrounding testing availability, turnaround time and travel restrictions in our 11 locales,” said BIG EAST Commissioner Val Ackerman. "Our plans for men’s and women’s basketball and other sports are unaffected at this time.”
