The dominos continue to tumble down as collegiate athletic conferences begin to announce their plans for their fall semester, with three more conferences announcing that they will not play sports this fall due to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Northeast-10 Conference, the America East Conference and the Atlantic-10 Conference all made their plans known on Friday, announcing that they are postponing all fall sports. Each conference went about their postponements in a particular way, with room to change things around if conditions improve. 

The Northeast-10 Conference — made up of Bentley University, Franklin Pierce University, Assumption College, St. Anselm College, Stonehill College, St. Michael’s College, Adelphi University, Le Moyne College, American International University, University of New Haven, Pace University, The College of St. Rose, Southern Connecticut State University and Southern New Hampshire University — made the decision to suspend all NE10-sponsored competition and championships through December 31. 

The NE10 and its member institutions are aiming to provide a meaningful regular season and conference championship experience for its fall sport student-athletes during the Spring 2021 semester, as long as a return to competition can be safely executed. Initial plans for spring-competition fall sports will be provided at a later date.

The NE10 will also endeavor to provide a regular season schedule and/or conference championship experience for its winter sport student-athletes during the spring 2021 semester, with the intention of aligning with appropriate NCAA selection criteria and dates, as long as a return to competition can be safely executed.

America East — which is made up of UMass Lowell, the University of Hartford, the University of New Hampshire, the University of Vermont, the University of Maine, Binghamton University, the University of Albany, Stony Brook University, the University of Maryland Baltimore County and the New Jersey Institute of Technology — announced a postponement of all America East fall sport athletics competition and championships for the duration of the first semester. 

The conference will develop plans for a competitive structure in the second semester and will identify a working group to begin studying this immediately. Athletics activities and student-athlete services for fall sports including but not limited to training, practice, strength and conditioning, athletic training and academic support will be permitted at each institution’s discretion in adherence with NCAA rules and local and state health and safety guidelines.

The Atlantic-10 Conference — made up of UMass Amherst, the University of Rhode Island, Davidson College, the University of Dayton, Duquesne University, Fordham University, George Mason University, George Washington University, La Salle University, the University of Richmond, St. Bonaventure University, St. Joseph’s University, Saint Louis University and Virginia Commonwealth University — has made the decision to postpone all fall sports until at least mid-September. 

The conference and institutional leadership have agreed to a “look-in window” mid-September, allowing for a potentially truncated competitive schedule amongst conference opponents if the COVID-19 risk has substantially been reduced. The reinstatement of conference competitions following the look-in window would require medical and institutional protocols that would assure the safety of student-athletes, staff and the campus community. If COVID-19 risk levels do not improve, the teams and student-athletes will continue training and practicing while attending classes and prepare for a spring 2021 competitive schedule.

The league intends to conduct a competitive schedule for the fall sports in the 2021 spring semester. Details on the rescheduling of contests and championships will be announced at a later date.