It seems like ages ago when the sports world came to an abrupt halt due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic back in mid-March. In one big swing, college and high school spring sports were canceled, leaving many to wonder what the fate of football and other fall sports would be.
However, after the depressing cancellation of spring athletics, sports have done its best to hurdle past each new problem that has risen, such as dealing with massive and quick COVID-19 testing. More importantly, programs are facing the financial burdens posed by limited or no spectators.
In the collegiate sports worlds ranging from the National Collegiate Athletic Association, National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, and National Junior College Athletic Association, adjusting to the new financial restraints has been part of the new normal for colleges. That’s not to mention the consistent problem of holding massive and consistent COVID-19 tests so that student-athletes can avoid spreading the virus and ultimately return to the field.
“In March, there were a lot of unknowns, and there still is some unknown,” Southern Miss Director of Athletics Jeremy McClain said. “We have been able to work through things that we just didn’t know then. We have now learned to work with the parameters that we are dealing with.
“It’s been difficult mostly on the revenue side. We knew it was going to be difficult, which hasn’t been a huge surprise. We have been able to cut some expenses and save on the expense side, but the revenue has taken a huge hit. The biggest part of that is limited capacity to games and guaranteed games, which are two pieces that have been hard to overcome.”
While the limited capacity for games has hurt athletic budgets, most programs lose money on their spring sports team. According to Pearl River Community Athletic Director Scotty Fletcher, the lack of expenses that the spring sports normally bring helped soften the blow of the lack of revenue.
“One advantage of getting the spring interrupted like that is we didn’t have as much of an overhead cost that we would have normally had, like buses, meals and hotels,” Fletcher said. “There was some saving grace there. I would think that we anticipate such a busy spring this year with every sport playing, except football, in the spring. “
The NCAA football season has carried on in a Frankenstein-like season, with various teams consistently rescheduling games and playing shortened seasons. Simultaneously, the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference opted to play in the fall rather than the spring, unlike the rest of the NJCAA.
Pearl River CC and many other programs of the various classifications have had to find ways to become innovative in creating revenue. For PRCC, allowing high school football games to be played at its stadium and hosting countless baseball tournaments have been a helpful way of generating money.
“It helps with everything,” Fletcher said. “It helps with exposure, recruitment, fundraising, budgeting, finances, which allows us to continue to invest in our facilities and continue to make them as competitive and first-class as any in the country.
“It’s been an absolute hit that we were able to get surrounding schools and families that have not been on our campus for some time and see the growth that we have made here at Pearl River.”
As college athletes have been granted extra years of eligibility, both the Mississippi High School Activities Association and the Midsouth Association of Independent Schools were focused on avoiding having high school athletes miss complete years of competition. Aside from the MHSAA high school football season being shortened two weeks, all other MHSAA sports and MAIS sports are planned to be played as scheduled.
While some local Pine Belt schools, such as Sumrall, Sacred Heart and Forrest County AHS, have dealt with COVID-19, some type of hybrid learning has helped athletic programs make a return. Lamar County athletic Director Patrick Lee admits that it’s not quite perfect, but it has been a key in return to high school athletics.
However, like college athletics, high school sports budgets have also suffered and have forced schools to come up with different ways to earn revenue.
“We have a lot of different online fundraisers,” Lee said. “There’s a lot of different online raffles and sales. The good things we have had, to get better at with technology and things like that, have kind of streamlined that process. I think those are good things that will stay around when this is all over and done.”
While both college and high school athletics may have different scenarios and struggles, each has one commonality that’s played a major part in the sports world battling COVID-19, which is the student-athletes willingness to do what it takes to stay on the field.
“I don’t think we have been able to give them a bunch of credit,” McClain said. “We have asked our student-athletes’ to do things differently. I think most of them have had to really try to do that and alter their interaction with what they do. Our athletic trainers have shouldered much of the burden, and doctors in our community and on campus have done a great job.”
For Lee, who believes that student-athletes have been diligent on their part, having a full grasp on battling the virus won’t likely be solved until a vaccine is created and that until then, programs will continue to have the same current problems.
“I don’t know if we will ever have fully a grasp on it when you look at the resources professional teams and college have with resources and big-time budgets, (and they) still struggle with the same stuff,” Lee said. “I think we have learned to not shy away from it as much, and adapt to not let it enter it as far as athletics go.
“I think our kids have done a phenomenal job in doing whatever we have asked them to do as far as masks and the different things they have been asked to do and doing whatever it takes to keep their seasons going.”
