NAIA Announces 2020 Fall Season Plans

The NAIA national office, in partnership with leaders of the association, released its plans for the fall season on June 4.

The NAIA noted its plan was guided first and foremost for the health and safety of the student-athletes. The second priority of the NAIA was to help its member institutions to plan for a return to campus and for a successful fall term.

Originally, the NAIA had planned on releasing its plans on July 1. However, after much input from the member institutions and conferences, the NAIA announced its plans earlier in order to allow schools to make plans.NAIA Logo

The following are the national recommendations made by the Council of Presidents (COP) Executive Committee:

1. Return to Play Threshold

The COP Executive Committee approved the use of a threshold system as a guideline for determining return to play. The threshold goal is for about half the participating institutions in each sport to receive clearance from local authorities to return to competition before the season can begin. For example, NAIA football has 95 participating institutions. When half (47) of these programs gain clearance from authorities to play, the NAIA football season will be authorized to begin.

The rationale for this decision is that a significant number of institutions need to participate to offer student-athletes a significant competitive and championship-caliber experience. Additionally, the fewer the number of participating programs, the higher the likelihood for scheduling challenges leading to increased travel costs and missed class time.

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