IVC athletic director hoping for business as usual in the fall but looks at other options

Irvine Valley College athletes and those from all community colleges in Orange County and the state will not be competing in athletics the rest of the year.

Now, the focus is preparing on the summer months and the anticipated start of fall sports, which are still on.

The California Community College Athletic Association Board of directors on Thursday canceled the remainder of the spring athletic season because of the coronavirus crisis.

The decision will affect programs at Santa Ana College, Santiago Canyon College, Fullerton College, Irvine Valley College, Orange Coast College, Saddleback College, Golden West College and others throughout the state.

Irvine Valley College officials were expecting the decision, according to Keith Shackleford, dean, school of kinesiology, health and athletics.

“We assumed this ruling was on its way because we saw the four-year governing bodies above us and like most circumstances, decisions they make tend to trickle down to our level,” Shackleford said. “We only expected maybe a bit of an earlier decision based on the mechanics of trying to ramp up a program on short notice being very difficult.

“The NBA projected a 60-day window as a best case scenario and they have all those resources at their disposal. I couldn’t imagine how we were going to play any more this spring.”

Shackleford said it’s not clear yet how athletes’ eligibility will be affected.

“Until we get something on paper from the NCAA as it relates to potential red-shirt years, whether they will honor our decisions as a governing body, how that impacts their institutions as it relates to scholarship caps, we’re trying to make sure that we give our student athletes and our coaches as much information as possible,” he said.

Shackleford said it may take 60 to 90 days for that decision to come down, perhaps longer.

“We’re always going to do what is best for our student athletes,” he said. “Our job is to move them to the next level and if that’s in their best interest immediately, we will advise them to do so.”

Shackleford said athletic department officials will continue to be paid during the time that sports are off. He said that athletes and coaches at IVC remained healthy.

“The district has been very supportive in terms of supporting all of our personnel,” Shackleford said.

Coaches will continue to be allowed to recruit, although they aren’t allowed to travel, but it shouldn’t affect recruiting. Telephone calls, E-mails and social media are means to attract athletes during this time, he added.

“We don’t really need to go anywhere, as long as we maintain our contacts with high school coaches and club coaches and we have regular and consistent contact with our recruits,” he said. “That’s kind of where our focus is going to be on for probably the next several months as those high school students try to sort through the difficulties they’re facing and ultimately going to have to make decisions that probably include us.

“We just want to make sure they understand that we’re supportive and our college is supportive of their programs and if and when they make a decision, we will be here for them.”

The IVC campus is closed for two weeks with students taking on-campus classes.

“Our assumption is that we’re done for the semester with on-campus contact,” Shackleford said. “That we’re going to maintain our on-line instruction through the end of the term and then we will examine how we manage summer.”

Shackleford said school officials have braced for a number of scenarios, from business as usual to a possible shutdown in the fall if the crisis continues or worsens.

“We’ve heard from the state chancellor’s office at the board meeting Monday that they anticipate another potential surge in illnesses come August,” he said. “We don’t think any of our programs are jeapordized in the long term. We’re merely concerned about whether we have the opportunity to compete in the fall.

“We’re hoping that in a worst case scenario we would compete without fans present with limitations on those who coulde attend but allow our student athletes to compete. In the best case scenario, it’s business as usual. But we have plans A, B, C and D.”

Shackleford realizes how painful it is for the local community to be without sports and to have to comply with the recent state orders to remain home, except to go out for essential services.

“We’re all feeling the pain. In some sense of unity, we’re all in this boat together,” he said. “Whether it’s Little League through the four years (colleges) hit in our community as well … the best we can do is make sure we make good decisions on behalf of our entire community and know we’re part of that and when the opportunity comes for us to be more public, we can’t wait for the opportunity.”

Shackelford said the school website and athletic website will continue to publish stories and information and he recommends fans of the programs check there for the latest sports news.

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com