Laker football coach: postponing fall sports 'right call to make'

Over the past six weeks, head Laker football coach Matt Mitchell said he went through a gamut of emotions when thinking ahead to the 2020 season.

"I've been very conflicted," Mitchell said. "I was excited to get this group of people together and test us against outside competition. Yet, at the same time, I never took COVID-19 lightly. My concern was, for my student athletes, we don't know the long-range effects of this virus."

Mitchell, who enters his 10th year as head coach, addressed area media members August 12 at the Jamie Hosford Football Center, hours after the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference announced a suspension of all fall sports until January 1 due to potential risks associated with coronavirus.

Read the statement from the GLIAC Council of Presidents and Chancellors.

Matt Mitchell discusses GLIAC postponing fall sports

Mitchell said he and other Laker coaches started discussing the possibility of a postponed season with players in July, when the NCAA announced stringent protocols concerning student athletes and testing.

"This was the right call to make," he said. 

Beginning next week, Mitchell will connect with the team's seniors to discuss their plans. "I'm concerned about them. I have to get on the phone with our seniors and their families. We have to chart a course for what their next year will look like. There is going to be some big challenges: how do we structure their education to match their eligibility?"

When spring sports were canceled in March, the NCAA granted student athletes who qualify another season of eligibility, and the same holds true for fall sport athletes. 

Football practice will look different, Mitchell said, beginning with weight lifting in small groups. And rather than reviewing game film, the team could be meeting for financial workshops, book clubs and similar activities, he said, "to enhance their education and remain together as a team."

Keri Becker, director of athletics, said the department's focus will remain on student athletes, helping to prepare them for a safe return to campus and a safe return to practices.

"We remain committed to providing the best student athlete experience, by achieving student athlete success academically, athletically and socially," Becker said. "We will create championship excellence in all that we do to deliver this experience. We will not and cannot do this alone, so we will engage our campus and community. 

"In the end, this experience, though one not any of us had planned, will create champions for life and in life."

Football season tickets

Football season ticket holders will have three options to choose from regarding 2020 season tickets payment:

• convert the payment to a tax-deductible athletics gift to assist student athletes
• apply payment toward the 2021 season tickets (deposit)
• request a refund

More information is available on this website.