Start of camp, schedule release delayed as test protocols honed
According to media reports, a letter from Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren and Chris Kratohvil--chair of the league task force for Emerging Infectious Diseases --was sent to conference athletic directors on Thursday stating that the league is still evaluating if COVID-19 testing procedures, supplies and protocols are adequate to begin training camps next week. Schools were slated to start on August 7th.
Eleven Warriors first reported the letter, which said a decision on starting camp will come "within the next five days." The release of the 2020 schedule will be in August.
"Many options are under consideration within each sport, and we expect these updated schedules to be released in August 2020," said the letter. "While we remain hopeful for a start in September 2020, flexibility has been created within our scheduling models to accommodate necessary adjustments. Consistent with our collective need to be adaptable to changes in circumstances and evolving medical knowledge, even issuing a schedule does not guarantee that competition will occur."
As for training camps:
“We will not, and cannot, proceed with preseason camp until we are certain that we can do so safely and that will depend, in part, on testing,” said the letter. “Once we have everything in place to execute our testing protocols effectively, including the appropriate number of tests secured for all fall sports, we can make a decision as to whether preseason camp will begin as currently scheduled.”
Per the report, the letter says the Big Ten will release its medical plan for the resumption of sports next week. Those protocols are being finalized by the task force and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee.
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