Earlier this afternoon, Yeshiva University Director of Athletics, Joe Bednarsh, sent the following letter to all the student-athletes. 

Dear Student-Athletes,

Over the past few months, we have been working closely with your coaches, the Skyline Conference and medical experts to help determine our plans for the 2020-21 season.  As we have seen with both college and professional sports, the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing guidelines will have a significant impact on what we commit to.

As we are in regular consultation with YU's medical director, we wanted to provide you with an update on our plans for the coming year. Based on the latest guidance for athletics teams and taking into account the health and safety of our students, we will continue to evaluate the most current information and consult with experts in the field as we strive to provide the safest quality athletic experience to our dedicated student-athletes.

We used a four-prong approach to evaluate the pressing issue of fall sports, and whether or not they could quickly and safely be ramped up for competition:

• Is it a contact sport which makes it a higher risk for virus transmission?
• Does the sport lend itself to social distancing?
• Do players need to share equipment?
• Will there be enough time to complete conference competition after following the appropriate return to play protocols?

 Based on this approach, we have determined:

• Women's Cross Country, Men's Cross Country, and Golf:
  • will participate in regular season competition and Skyline Conference championship play, following our return in to campus in mid-October. 
• Women's Soccer, Men's Soccer, and Women's Volleyball:
  • will not participate in Skyline play but may have some limited competition in the fall after following the NCAA's recommended return to play timeline.
  • We plan to ask the NCAA for additional dates of competition in the spring in order for our student-athletes to put together a full season of play.
• Women's Tennis:
  • Will practice and compete in the Spring as the Skyline Conference has moved the entire season from the fall
• YU is suspending all fall off-season (non-traditional) practices and competitions for softball, baseball and men's tennis
• Winter sports (basketball, fencing) will be sponsored, but with an uncertain start date at this time 
• Winter and Spring sports may see adjustments as we move closer to those seasons. Updated information will be posted on yu.edu/fall2020 as well as YUMacs.com.
• International students- we are closely monitoring the recent announcements from the Department of Homeland Security and will provide updates as available .

We recognize that you may have questions and concerns and are working with your coaches to set up a time to meet and answer questions you may have.

Joe