RMAC cancels fall football, volleyball

Featured photo: A set of tackling dummies sits unused at Don Beebe Stadium. After a meeting Aug. 6, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference decided to cancel the fall seasons for football and volleyball, instead opting to attempt a season in the spring. – photo credit: Brandon Davenport

During an Aug. 6 meeting, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Presidents’ Council postponed the seasons for football, volleyball and soccer to the spring, but agreed golf and cross country can compete this fall.

Leading to the postponement, the RMAC Presidents’ Council voted to delay sports practices to Aug. 24 and the opening competition to Sept. 18. The RMAC also decided to reduce football, volleyball and soccer to a conference-only schedule. However, nine days later, the National College Athletic Association Div. II Presidents’ Council decided to cancel seven fall championships for 2020 because of “The operational, logistical and financial challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The NCAA Div. II’s decision means Chadron State College’s football and volleyball teams must aim for competition in the spring despite spending the offseason preparing for a fall season. The Eagles’ football team was originally scheduled to play Western Colorado University, Sept. 5, while the volleyball team was scheduled for a tournament on Sept. 4 in Pueblo, Colorado.

With changing guidelines and restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, all sports teams faced limitations in their offseason programs. However, uncertainty filled the minds of athletes and coaches throughout their summer programs.

“As a coach you always have a plan,” Head Football Coach Jay Long said. “We tried to set a plan, but COVID made it hard to follow that plan. I was just disappointed when (the postponement) happened. 

“Our players worked so hard to be able to play and when the NCAA took away the championships for Div II and III, I felt heartbroken for our seniors and the kids who worked hard all summer,” Long said.

Long  said he developed four different fall itineraries this offseason and is currently working on another for the future.

As yet, no dates are set for the start of practices and competition in the spring, and no games have been scheduled for football or volleyball.

“We were just preparing as normal as possible since everybody didn’t know what to expect,” Head Volleyball Coach Jennifer Stadler said. “We had it in the back of our minds that the season would get pushed. My assistant coach and I just planned for us to be ready to go this fall, but unfortunately our season got pushed to the spring. Now we are changing some things around, but we are excited to get in the gym with all our team and have them back on campus.”

Similar to their coach, many volleyball players trained in the summer with hopes of fall competition, but knowing changes could be on the horizon.

“After coming back from spring break and hearing that schools were all moving online, I was very skeptical going into the summer, especially since spring ball was cancelled,” Chandler Hageman, senior of Chadron, said. “I wasn’t sure what would happen next. The virus did not change the way I thought about volleyball or how I’d train going into the summer. I continued to push myself harder than I probably ever have.”

There were no practices or conditioning since March and with student-athletes leaving for home, the limited weight rooms saw a few players lifting alone, according to Hageman.

Stadler also mentioned the postponement gives the team “A chance to break things down more than we normally get to in the fall.

Both Stadler and Long mentioned they will meet with senior athletes to discuss their future playing career and will honor the scholarships of athletes who opt-out.

“As of right now, I have a lot of different thoughts about volleyball moving to the spring. Although, it seems like there are so many unanswered questions and there could potentially be more changes to come. So, I am going to continue to lift and workout and just ride the wave and see what happens throughout the semester.” Hageman said.

Stadler credits CSC’s administration, athletic directors and President Randy Rhine for their efforts in communicating with all the coaches throughout the pandemic.

“As soon as they got information, I feel like they are communicating with us – having a long dialog with us coaches and also accepting our feedback and getting our input. That’s been awesome being able to communicate with them and not just hearing the information but having a conversation with them has been a huge thing during this situation.” Stadler said.