Chancellor Malatras Announces Alfred State Approved to Resume Spring Intercollegiate Athletic Competition

Following SUNY's Guiding Safety Principles and in partnership with local public health officials, competition is ready to begin for Alfred State, Morrisville, Canton, Cobleskill, Delhi, and SUNY Polytechnic Institute.

Decision Allows More than 1,400 Student-Athletes in Baseball, Basketball, Softball, Tennis, Lacrosse, and Track & Field Back for Spring Season

State University of New York Chancellor Jim Malatras recently announced that six SUNY colleges across three more athletic conferences have been cleared to safely resume low, moderate, and limited approved high-risk intercollegiate sports this spring.

Chancellor Malatras made the announcement during a visit to SUNY Morrisville, where he met with student-athletes about the outlook for spring. The approval will allow more than 1,400 student-athletes from the following colleges to compete:

Allegheny Mountain Conference – 338 student-athletes

• Alfred State College

Northeastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) – 175 student-athletes

• SUNY Morrisville

North Atlantic Conference – 915 student-athletes

• SUNY Canton
• SUNY Cobleskill
• SUNY Delhi
• SUNY Polytechnic Institute 

"Being able to provide our student athletes with opportunities to compete is another promising step in the right direction to add life and school spirit to our campuses, something we are all yearning for," said Chancellor Malatras. "We have our campus leadership, athletic departments, and local public health officials to thank for their close partnership in making sure our student athletes can compete and stay safe from this unyielding virus. And I appreciate the patience of our students. They have shown tremendous diligence in following health safety protocols on campus, and now they have a chance to prove themselves on the field. May the games begin."

Dr. Skip Sullivan, Alfred State president, is excited to have the Pioneers back in action. "Alfred State commends Chancellor Malatras and SUNY for creating a plan that will ensure our student-athletes are able to safely resume competition this spring. Our student-athletes have worked incredibly hard and deserve the right to compete safely at the collegiate level, and we cannot wait to see them back in action.

The following sports have been approved for resumption, including baseball and softball, as well as men's and women's basketball (fall sport for special spring season), golf, lacrosse, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.

Alfred State Return to Play Plans

With input from University Presidents, athletic department administrators, coaches, trainers, and student-athletes, SUNY established a series of overarching guiding safety principles for all colleges and universities seeking to resume intercollegiate athletics. All plans must include:

• Endorsement from the respective local health department.
• 100 percent weekly testing of all student-athletes.
• Student-athletes must be tested within three days of departure for road contest.
• Student-athletes, coaching staff members, medical staff, officials, and media members must be masked at all times, except athletes during active competition or practice.
• All schools must have COVID symptom screening tools for home and visiting teams.
• If an individual has COVID-19 symptoms en route to the contest, the team must return to its home campus.
• If someone presents COVID-19 symptoms during a contest, that contest must be stopped immediately.
• No handshakes, group celebrations, or pre-game or post-game interaction with opposing teams.
• No eating on buses, reduced bus capacity.
• No spectators.