The Liberty League has officially shut down sports for the rest of the year.

The league announced late Wednesday afternoon that it was canceling all competition and championships through Dec. 31 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“With institutions and conferences, both regionally and nationally, making the difficult decision to cancel fall competition, our announcement to cancel Liberty League competition and championships will likely not come as a surprise,” Liberty League commissioner Tracy King said in a press release. “Nevertheless, I understand the deep disappointment that many of our student-athletes, who have trained and prepared for competition, will feel with this decision. Moving forward, our members will continue to work together to provide meaningful athletic opportunities to support our student-athletes.”

Liberty League members RPI and Union had already announced their intentions to shut down their fall sports seasons. Skidmore, also a member of the Liberty League, was still waiting to make a decision.

“With the recently updated NCAA resocialization guidelines and the current New York state guidelines, it became clear both as an institution and as a member of the Liberty League that the challenges around testing, including securing necessary testing equipment, were more than could be handled,” Skidmore athletic director Gail Cummings-Danson said in a press release. “We are deeply disappointed that this decision was necessary; however, we remain fully committed to our teams and all our student-athletes, coaches and staff. Skidmore recognizes the importance of athletic participation to its student-athletes and we will continue to engage our student-athletes athletically in the safest ways possible.

“The health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches, staff and entire community remains our top priority. We will continue to monitor the situation and alter our guidelines and protocols as necessary. We thank everyone for your support, patience and understanding as we navigate these unprecedented times. We look forward to a time when our Thoroughbreds can return to competitive action and we are there to cheer our teams on.”

Just about every Capital Region college has either canceled or postponed sports through the end of the year. Siena and its conference, the MAAC, announced last Friday that it is delaying the start of the fall sports season. UAlbany and its conference, the America East, announced last Friday the postponement of its fall sports season, with the intention of playing those sports next spring.

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