Long Beach State AD looking at possibility of teams competing in 2020-21 seasons

The Walter Pyramid is home to Long Beach State athletic teams. (Photo courtesy Long Beach State Athletic Communications)

Long Beach State Athletic Director Andy Fee released a statement on Twitter Tuesday that provided hope for its fans that the university’s athletic teams could compete in sports in 2020, although he did not provide a specific date and said public health concerns will weigh in the decision.

It came on the same day that CSU Trustees indicated that all 23 campuses in the system will go to on-line courses for the fall due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.

Long Beach State officials provided Fee’s comment Wednesday:

“We intend to compete in 2020-21 and will continue to monitor evolving public-health directives and other guidance. We are hopeful our student-athletes will be able to return to competition and play the sports they love.”

It has not been determined that if sports are held, fans will be allowed to attend, according to Roger Kirk, assistant athletic director/athletic communications.

Kirk said in a statement to OC Sports Zone:

“Decisions relating to whether that will be in front of fans or not are still to be determined and while we are planning with both scenarios in mind, the pandemic and how it progresses will obviously impact that decision.”

Long Beach State is one of the CSU campuses. Other Big West Conference members from the CSU system are Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Northridge. Fall sports include women’s volleyball, cross country, men’s and women’s soccer and men’s water polo.

Big West commissioner Dennis Farrell issued a statement Tuesday saying conference officials are monitoring the situation and no decision has been made for fall sports.

“The Big West Conference athletic administrators and chief executive officers are monitoring the return to campus plans of all our member institutions and are proceeding with plans for fall athletic competition,” Farrell said in a statement. “We will continue to assess whether the return of athletic competition in the fall will be appropriate.”

Officials in Division 2 California Collegiate Athletic Association announced Tuesday that fall sports were being postponed.

Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State East Bay, Cal State Los Angeles, Cal State Monterey Bay, Cal State San Bernardino, Cal State San Marcos, Cal Poly Pomona, Chico State, Humboldt State, San Francisco State, Sonoma State, Stanislaus State and UC San Diego are part of the conference.

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