Two days after the announcement that the NCAA Division II fall championships were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lone Star Conference Council of Presidents postponed all competition in the sports of football, soccer, volleyball and basketball until the spring.

This will affect Angelo State University and the other 17 universities in the conference.

The LSC announcement was made during a meeting Friday morning.

The cross country season will remain intact as orginally planned, and golf and tennis will be allowed to compete in non-championship segments in the fall. But all other outside competition will be pushed back till the spring of 2021.

The NCAA Board of Governors met earlier this week and after a long discussion, the difficult decision was made to postpone football, soccer, volleyball and basketball due to the challenges of the pandemic.

The four sports that are being postponed are classified as high-contact risk sports by the NCAA resocialization principles will be allowed to hold workouts during the fall under all applicable NCAA D-II rules.

Workouts for all sports cannot start earlier than Aug. 24. 

Competition in the low- to medium-risk contact sports cross country, golf and tennis are not allowed to start until the week of Sept. 21.

In Friday’s news release, the LSC said it will continue to “monitor updated public health information and evaluate medical safeguards and certifications to ensure safe competition.  The health and well-being of student-athletes will remain top priority in all conference decisions.”

Charles Bryce is a journalist covering sports in West Texas. Send him a news tip at cbryce@gannett.com. Consider supporting West Texas journalism with a subscription to GoSanAngelo.com.