William Paterson Fall Sports Canceled As NJAC Postpones Season

WAYNE, NJ — The New Jersey Athletic Conference announced Tuesday that it would suspend all fall sports contests for the upcoming semester.

This means the William Paterson University field hockey, football, men's golf, men's soccer, women's soccer, women's tennis and women's volleyball teams will not compete against other schools in 2020.

"The William Paterson Athletics staff worked tirelessly with institutional, local, conference and NCAA authorities since March to plan for a return to competition this fall. We are all eager to see you back in the Orange and Black, competing in the sports you love, and we share your disappointment that we are not yet able to safely do so," said Athletic Director Sabrina Grant, in a statement.

According to the NJAC, there's a possibility that these sports could see a return to the field in the spring of 2021.

"The NJAC will pursue every avenue within the NCAA governance structure to explore the provision of a competitive season for the fall sport student-athletes during the spring 2021 semester and allow them to engage in practice and training opportunities during the fall 2020 semester," the conference said, in a statement.

The NCAA recently announced that if the Divison III season was cancelled, student-athletes will not lose a year of eligibility as a result.

Institutions will be allowed to apply for these waivers if the following criteria is met:

• The student-athlete was unable to participate in their sport during the 2020-21 academic year due to the impact of COVID-19, or the student-athlete’s teams completed 50 percent or less of the sport’s maximum contests/dates of competition during the 2020-21 season due to COVID-19
• The student-athlete was otherwise eligible for competition during the 2020-21 academic year

William Paterson University recently released their plan for the fall academic semester. Read more here: William Paterson Fall Semester Plans Announced

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