Las Vegas, NM --- New Mexico Highlands University announced it will cancel regular-season and championship competitions for wrestling, volleyball, and men's and women's basketball during the upcoming 2020-21 season.
The university had previously decided to forgo indoor track & field competition during the 2021 season. The decision does not affect plans to compete in full regular season and championships for all other sports in 2021.
"With full consideration for the health and well-being of our student-athletes and realistic abilities to conduct sports seasons during the current pandemic, we have had to make some very difficult decisions," said NMHU Athletic Director
Andrew Ehling in announcing the cancellation.
Several factors went into NMHU making its decision at this time:
- From a public health standpoint, the current COVID-19 pandemic has not significantly improved at the local, state, or national level.
- The need to give student-athletes appropriate time to not only make decisions regarding their class schedules for spring term, but also to determine if they desire to be on campus.
- Current NCAA testing requirements and New Mexico COVID-Safe Practices for Intercollegiate Athletics limiting the ability for teams to travel, compete and conduct practices.
Ehling noted that, over the last several months, NMHU committees including athletic administrators, vice presidents and deans, faculty athletics representatives, athletic trainers, local medical professionals and coaches have met on a regular basis to consider how intercollegiate athletic competition might take place as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to affect communities, and the nation.
"In the course of our discussions, it became clear that a number of concerns related to the implementation of recommended NCAA testing protocols for winter sports; state COVID-Safe Practices for Intercollegiate Athletics; restrictions on the size of group gatherings; event management; and contingency planning to provide care for individuals who may test positive or become symptomatic while traveling, present challenges that cannot be resolved in a way that would create an acceptable level of risk for our student-athletes, coaches, officials, staff and others," said Ehling.
Ehling added that the university will continue to closely monitor and evaluate the public health situation as it considers potential spring intercollegiate athletics competition. Athletes across all divisions saw spring sports canceled in March 2020 due to the coronavirus.
"We are very hopeful and committed to not having a second season of competition lost for our spring sport student-athletes," said Ehling.
