Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — The Northwest Athletic Conference announced Friday that no NWAC championships will be played for any sports this current academic year and that basketball season will be pushed back to March 1 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“I know this was a difficult decision for the conference, but with Oregon colleges currently not allowed to play indoor sports and the likelihood of COVID-19 transmission impacting our efforts to compete, I think it’s a very wise move,” said Rick Ross, Associate Dean for Athletics and Student Life at Peninsula College. “We desperately want what our student athletes want, the opportunity to play and to get better, but I think this provides us an avenue to pursue that in the safest possible way. If you can’t win a title, players and coaches across the NWAC are more likely to report minor symptoms of illness. That makes all of us safer.”
The NWAC decision, which came from a Thursday Executive Board meeting, allows only for regional play. The North Region will amend its basketball schedule, pushing it back to March 1 from Feb. 20, and review the soccer schedule this week, according to Ross, who is serving as chairman of the North Region.
“This is a tough year. We have great returning athletes and a great recruiting class in both basketball and soccer, and our coaches work very hard to bring high quality teams to our community,” Ross said. “It’ll be a shift now to focus more on player development, than winning another championship trophy, but the good news is that we’ll have many of these athletes back in 2021-22.”
Peninsula College has amassed 11 NWAC championships and 20 league titles in the last 10 years, competing as the smallest community college in the conference.
While there won’t be an official NWAC trophy to be added to the collection this year, there could still be a North Region cup, if the sports committees are allowed to hold a post-season region tournament, Ross said.
And the prospect for 2021-22 looks promising. The NWAC, and the entire NCAA, are not counting 2020-21 toward eligibility, so college athletes have a “free year.”
“The good news is that we’ll have some very talented three-year sophomores next year and we’ll have the opportunity to have more total student athletes on scholarship,” Ross said. “The bad news, or rather the challenge will be to fund raise for those additional scholarships during this pandemic,” Ross said. “We’re really hoping our loyal Pirate boosters will come through. We need them now more than ever.”
Peninsula athletes are scheduled to arrive back to Port Angeles on Jan. 3 and will quarantine for 14 days before beginning small-group workouts in mid-January with their roommates, before moving to full team workouts in February. The NWAC has released a return-to-play manual, to be posted to its website Monday, that all colleges are required to follow. It outlines, in detail, what activities coaches and athletes are allowed to engage in, as well as how to respond to symptoms or positive COVID cases.
Peninsula’s esports athletes, meanwhile, are not part of the NWAC. They competed during the fall quarter, both from home and from the college’s esports arena, as a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association Esports conference. They too will quarantine for 14 days and then resume play winter quarter.
“We just have to stay positive and know that this is bump in the road,” Ross said. “We’re very committed to creating a positive collegiate athletic experience for our student athletes, and also to doing it in a safe way. We still have great coaches, great athletes and great college and community support. I can’t wait to see them on the court, and on the field, and in our esports arena again winter quarter, with my mask on of course.”
