SALT LAKE CITY — The Western Athletic Conference pushed back the start of fall competition in three sports as the world deals with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The WAC announced play for its member institutions will start no earlier than Sept. 15 in women’s soccer, Sept. 21 for women’s volleyball and Sept. 23 for men’s soccer.

“Two WAC committees, the medical advisory group and the contingency planning group, have been meeting on a weekly basis to ensure the safest manner for member institutions to conduct to fall competition,” WAC commissioner Jeff Hurd said in a statement. “Their recommendations, which include a strong testing policy as well as a requirement for each of our institutions to put together an emergency action plan, were reviewed and approved by the board.”

Dixie State became a Division I school this offseason, joining Utah Valley in the WAC. Both schools field teams in all three sports.

“The safety of our student-athletes is our top priority,” Dixie State athletic director Jason Boothe said in a statement. “We certainly want to play this fall, but we also need to make sure we are doing it safely. This delay will allow us to hopefully get our student-athletes back up to speed to play. It also buys us some more time to see how the (COVID-19) virus is impacting our campuses and communities before considering any potential further action.”