Members of the football team at UVa-Wise were already on campus, preparing for a season-opener that is now many months away.

“Our kids reported July 31, because we were originally supposed to start school Aug. 12,” said UVa-Wise football coach Dane Damron. “We had to bring our kids in a little earlier to have a scattered move-in where they moved in during certain time slots. We had started workouts and had practiced social distancing. We were really hoping we’d have a chance to play.”

Damron will have more time to recruit in the fall, but not in the state where his school is located as the Virginia High School League postponed its football season until the spring last month.

“It’ll be different,” Damron said. “Not much high school football to watch and who knows with college football at the [NCAA Division I] FBS and FCS levels.”

The South Atlantic Conference will have a tough task in putting a schedule together for what will be a hectic spring on the campuses across the league.

“Over the next weeks and months we’ll work as a league to kind of develop some schedule models and timeframes and what putting everything into the spring semester will look like,” Rainey said. “At this point, the league has not made a decision on winter sports and there is the possibility basketball will start on schedule in November, which would help alleviate some of the burden if they could get started.

“[Fall sports in the spring] will definitely put a strain on athletic training and sports information in particular. We’ve got good people in those roles and we’ll meet it head on and do the best we can to give those athletes a chance to have meaningful opportunities.”