Peach Belt Conference delays start of fall seasons to Oct. 1

The Peach Belt Conference (PBC) decided to delay all fall competition until Oct 1. The unanimous decision was made by the PBC Board of Directors, which includes the presidents and chancellors of the league's institutions.

The decision affects UNG's cross country, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's tennis, and men's and women's golf programs.

"Today's announcement helps UNG continue to work in the landscape of an ever-changing and fluid environment," UNG Athletics Director Lindsay Reeves said. "North Georgia is committed to remaining flexible through this pandemic and eventually providing a meaningful student-athlete experience that is driven by championship access, yet centered around the welfare of our community."

The decision announced July 22 does not affect men's and women's basketball. A decision concerning those sports will be made at a later date.

"We are consistently and conscientiously evaluating recommendations and guidelines from the NCAA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, our state university systems and local governments," said University of South Carolina Aiken chancellor Dr. Sandra Jordan, who chairs the PBC Board of Directors. "The NCAA is recommending weekly testing and point-of-contact antigen testing and at this moment, those tests are not readily available. Thus, we feel that delaying the start of the season until October when we anticipate more testing options is the best course of action and will allow us to embrace best practices. We will reassess as the need arises but remain dedicated to returning our student-athletes to competition when it is reasonable to do so."

UNG will immediately begin to adjust the published fall 2020 game schedules accordingly. Check back to UNGAthletics.com and the UNG Athletics social media accounts for the latest information.

During the next several weeks, the PBC will announce more information about fall schedules, fall PBC tournaments, practice start dates and spring sports activities in their non-championship segment.

"This was a very difficult decision for the board to reach," PBC commissioner David Brunk said. "They understand the desire of all student-athletes to get back on the field and play. However, unlike attending university classes, student-athletes are at greater risk because sports are high-contact in nature. Since there are still significant health and well-being concerns that exist with the COVID-19 pandemic, that must take precedence at this time."