Coronavirus shuts down Kean Athletics and College Sports Nationwide

By Eric Salas | Published by March 24, 2020

The worldwide pandemic known as the Coronavirus has massively impacted the lives of thousands around the globe and has made its presence known in the world of college and professional sports. 

At Kean, it all began on March 4 when Kean University officials notified student-athletes who were scheduled to travel for spring break games that they would be canceling all out-of-state travel to both California and Florida due to newly found cases in those areas, according to NorthJersey.com

On March 10, an announcement was sent out to the Kean community via email from the office of President Dawood Farahi that said due to the growing number of COVID-19 cases nationwide and in New Jersey, Kean will begin remote education starting March 16 through March 30. 

As a result of the announcement, Kean Athletics would cancel the remainder of spring sporting events. Kean sports teams that were affected by this decision were baseball, softball, men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse, and men’s volleyball. 

“I was shocked and disappointed,” junior softball player Maria Bonfanti said. “My teams, coaching staff, and trainers all prepared for months and worked hard day in and day out. We were on track to have a great season making it to number 9 in the nation and it was just taken away from us.” 

Kean softball had a strong start to the 2020 season with a 9-1 record with five out of their six games at home.

For Kean baseball, they began their 2020 season with a great start as well. The team was 8-2 by winning seven of their nine games at home with one road win. Sophomore pitcher Bruce Weyand also weighed in on the situation on behalf of himself and the team.

“It was very disappointing knowing how much we worked over the offseason,” Weyand said. “It was just unfortunate that a lot was done to prepare, but nothing can be shown for it.”

When the NCAA announced the cancelation of remaining games, it left questions for college athletes’ eligibility due to the uncertainty that the spring season would resume and was a major concern for seniors playing in their final season.

On March 13, Basketball analyst Jeff Goodman of the Stadium Basketball Insider reported on Twitter that “NCAA’s Council Coordination Committee has agreed to grant relief for the use of a season of competition for student-athletes who have participated in spring sports. Committee will also discuss issues for winter sports student-athletes.”

It was later announced the same day by NCAA DIII on Twitter that all spring sport student-athletes who competed this spring season so far will not be charged a season of participation for eligibility purposes. 

“I am lucky to have another year to play being that I am only a junior,” Bonfanti said. “But I feel for our seniors at Kean who had their last season canceled and weren’t able to properly enjoy and say goodbye in their final year.”

Spring student-athletes in their senior season will now have the opportunity to make a return to their sport if they desire to do so in 2021 and younger students will gain back the year that they will miss as well. Although the decision to grant athletes relief for the lost season, it does not necessarily mean they will return.

“I believe some seniors will come back for the extra year of eligibility, but I know that some have already told us that they are not coming back,” Weyand said. “Overall I know that most of them are heartbroken by the decision but also very appreciative of the previous years that they were here.”

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