SEC Will Honor Scholarships if Athletes Sit out Amid COVID-19 Concerns

The Southeastern Conference announced on Friday eventing that they will honor any scholarships for athletes competing in fall sports if he or she feels uncomfortable participating for reasons stemming from the COVID-19 outbreak.

College sports are actually making some decisions that put their student-athletes first. 

The Southeastern Conference announced on Friday eventing that they will honor any scholarships for athletes competing in fall semester sports if he or she feels uncomfortable participating for reasons stemming from the COVID-19 outbreak.

After an initial recommendation issued by athletic directors from across the SEC, the decision comes as part of a unanimous vote from the SEC's Presidents and Chancellors.

“SEC universities are committed to full support of its student-athletes, whether or not a student-athlete decides to participate in sports during these uncertain times,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. “SEC student-athletes have frequently expressed their desire to compete, but it is important for student-athletes and their families to know the financial support committed to them by their institutions will not be at risk because of health concerns presented by the current pandemic.”

For now, this sort of waiver extends only to athletes who will participate in any sport occurring during the fall semester. Whether or not it will be later extended to the spring semester is to be determined. 

Athletic directors from each of the 14 member institutions met Monday at conference headquarters in Alabama for the first time since the de facto start of the pandemic in March. For now, there has been no major decision made on the playing of sports, particularly football, in the fall as planned.

Those decisions will be made over the course of the next two to three weeks, primarily depending on trends in public health data over that span. A bevy of different ideas as to how to alter that season have been tossed around, but three are standing out currently that would shorten a schedule and in some cases for a sort of alliance between conferences with similar viewpoints. 

But for now, anyone that chooses to voluntarily sit out this season will be able to do so without any financial repercussions. 

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