SEC Approves the June Return of Student Athletes to Campus

The SEC, in concurrence with the NCAA's prior decision, will be allowing student-athletes back on campus. What's next?

Football is coming back. The Southeastern Conference, in concurrence with the NCAA's prior decision, will be allowing student-athletes back on campus. 

In a vote on Friday afternoon, SEC decision makers approved the decision to allow athletes back on campus beginning on June 8. The decision by the conference goes hand-in-hand with Wednesday's decision by the NCAA to allow such activities on campus beginning June 1.

"The safe and healthy return of our student-athletes, coaches, administrators and our greater university communities have been and will continue to serve as our guiding principle as we navigate this complex and constantly-evolving situation," said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. "Thanks to the blueprint established by our Task Force and the dedicated efforts of our universities and their athletics programs, we will be able to provide our student-athletes with far better health and wellness education, medical and psychological care and supervision than they would otherwise receive on their own while off campus or training at public facilities as states continue to reopen."

Ole Miss and other SEC sister institutions still have to make their own decisions on when to bring athletes back, but they are now free to do so on June 8. 

For now, all activities on campus will be strictly voluntary. Weight rooms and locker rooms are going to have to be set up to allow for social distancing and coaches may even have to wear masks. Similarly to how one must enter a hospital, programs may insist on temperature checks to enter facilities and any state-wide or local regulations must be followed within facilities. 

"While each institution will make its own decisions in creating defined plans to safely return student-athletes to activity, it is essential to employ a collaborative approach that involves input from public health officials, coaches, sports medicine staff, sports performance personnel and student-athletes," Sankey said. "Elements of the Task Force recommendations provided key guidance for determining the date of the return to activity."

The SEC, as part of their June 8 designation, also implemented recommended health and safety measures as follows:

• Enhanced education of all team members on health and wellness best practices, including but not limited to preventing the spread of COVID-19
• A 3-stage screening process that involves screening before student-athletes arrive on campus, within 72 hours of entering athletics facilities and on a daily basis upon resumption of athletics activities
• Testing of symptomatic team members (including all student-athletes, coaches, team support and other appropriate individuals)
• Immediate isolation of team members who are under investigation or diagnosed with COVID-19 followed by contact tracing, following CDC and local public health guidelines
• A transition period that allows student-athletes to gradually adapt to full training and sport activity following a period of inactivity

Even with all the red-tape to tip-toe around, it's still a hugely positive step in an attempt to return to normalcy. 

Whenever Ole Miss decides to bring their athletes back, workouts through June will be all voluntary and non-contact. NCAA decision makers are looking at a proposed extension to the summer training camp schedule, one that would involve added practice time to make up for missed time in spring ball. A large portion of that proposal centers around an additional two-week period that would operate similarly to NFL organized team activities. 

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