Given the increased rise of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., FAMU has decided to forego its plans to play its delayed fall 2020 sports schedule this spring, the university announced in a release late yesterday. The affected sports include football, indoor track & field and volleyball.
FAMU said, “the decision was made with the health and safety of our student-athletes as our top priority. We will, now, shift our focus to planning a safe return to play in fall 2021, our inaugural season in the Southwest Athletic Conference.”
FAMU still plans to play its modified spring sports schedule which includes men’s/women’s basketball, baseball, softball, golf, bowling, track and women’s tennis in 2021.
The Rattlers’ decision to not play football in the spring comes on the heels of arch-rivals Bethune-Cookman’s decision to cancel all sports during the spring 2021 semester. Both, FAMU and BCU are leaving the MEAC on June 30, 2021.
Adding to FAMU’s decision was the likelihood that Bragg Stadium is scheduled to undergo major construction in the spring and would likely not be available.