According to a press release from the Patriot League and a comment from the athletic department, American University athletics will resume in the fall, pending updated safety guidelines.
No announcements have been made regarding winter or spring sports.
Fall sports will begin no earlier than Sept. 4, with in-conference play beginning at the end of September. The Patriot League is aiming to conclude regular-season play before Thanksgiving, which remains in line with typical scheduling for fall sports.
On June 8, The NCAA declared that fall championships expect to continue with the same timeframe and format as previous seasons.
Official regular-season and tournament schedules have yet to be released.
“We’ll be following DC, PL, and AU guidelines to safely return to competition when allowed,” a spokesperson for the athletic department told The Eagle in a statement on Monday afternoon.
There will be no team flights during the season, as part of the travel restriction guidelines set by the Patriot League. The conference also announced that there will be no team overnight trips in the regular season barring “rare exceptions.”
When Patriot League teams begin their out-of-conference schedules, they will “confirm that non-League competitors are following comparable health and safety protocols in advance of any contest,” per the press release.
Athletes will return to campus at the same time as all other students, a divergence from the University’s usual timetable in which athletes often arrive earlier for training. As such, student-athletes will be unable to train on campus until Aug. 24.
As part of the University’s fall health and safety plan, athletic training centers and recreational facilities will hold a maximum of 100 people with no guests allowed. The University will follow additional precautions in recreation centers, mandating six feet of separation between athletic equipment, as well as setting higher frequency cleaning within athletic facilities.
"Patriot League Athletics Directors and League staff will develop schedules to meet these criteria, which will be announced at a future date," according to the release.
