3/13/2020 football Edit

3 takeaways from Oregon State Athletic Director Scott Barnes

Brenden Slaughter • BeaversEdge

Publisher

In the wake of the cancellation of all winter and spring sport-related competition at Oregon State University, Athletic Director Scott Barnes held a conference call to give the latest on what the next steps are moving forward.

3. Pushing for eligibility answers...

With winter and spring championships canceled in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, Oregon State Athletic Director Scott Barnes noted in his teleconference with the local media that he hopes to have eligibility answers for those student-athletes as he and his peers across the conferences will push for extended clocks.

"It's something that we'd love to see," Barnes said. "We're pushing for an answer from the NCAA as soon as possible as it pertains to eligibility for winter and spring athletes."

2. All sports are on indefinite suspension

While the NCAA has officially canceled winter and spring championships, that doesn't yet mean that all Oregon State spring sports events have been canceled. While currently there are no championships for those respective sports via the NCAA, Barnes noted that at the moment the Pac-12 has only indefinitely suspended all contests.

As of right now, the Oregon State Athletics is essentially shut down and the next "check-in" date will be March 29th when everyone returns from spring break. There will be no practices, no recruiting, and no team activities, only the coaching staff providing emotional support to the players.

In the interim, Barnes noted that the training table will remain open for student-athletes and that the strength and weight training facility would be available under distancing and health guidelines to keep everyone healthy.

As far as whether or not there's a chance that spring sports could resume without a postseason, Barnes said that that's a decision he expects clarity on in the coming days.

"We continue to monitor that with the Pac-12 Conference and we'll have a decision on that soon," Barnes. "I anticipate the answer will come soon in that regard."

1. The future is uncertain

With this process being quite tricky to maneuver, the only thing that's certain is uncertainty.

While many might already be thinking ahead to fall sports and their future with winter and spring already canceled, Barnes noted that things are continually changing and that it's imperative to keep the safety and well-being of the student-athletes as the top priority.

"The only thing I'm certain about is that things continue to change," Barnes. "At this point, we'll check in on March 29th and make further decisions from there."