The Presidents Athletic Conference has begun work on a return-to-play plan for intercollegiate sports for the 2020-21 academic year.

The league has approved the formation of working groups involving conference executives, administrators, health professionals and coaches to address issues and report back to the Presidents’ Council with recommended guidelines, best practices and strategies.

“Student-athletes and their competition are a vital part of our undergraduate experiences,” Dr. David Finegold, Chatham University president and Presidents’ Council chair, said in a release Thursday.

“We are looking at all aspects of what will be necessary to resume sports competition next academic year while doing all we can to protect the health of our student-athletes in light of the global pandemic.”

The PAC’s 12 member schools – Bethany (W.Va.), Chatham, Geneva, Grove City, Saint Vincent, Thiel, Washington & Jefferson, Waynesburg, Westminster, Carnegie Mellon, Case Western Reserve (Ohio) and Franciscan (Ohio) – are represented in the working groups.

Federal, state and local guidelines will be primary considerations for the conference’s 10 full members and two affiliate football members as the summer leads into preseason practices and then into competitions.

The NCAA canceled winter championships and the entire spring sports season March 12 as part of the early stage response to the coronavirus pandemic.

As the president from each school communicates with the PAC Commissioner Joe Onderko regarding individual campus contingency plans, the PAC anticipates making final decisions regarding the structure and timeline for a fall semester return in late June or early July. That, the PAC says, is subject to change based on any guidelines issued from federal, state and local authorities.

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