A blessing in disguise

AWC Athletics backs the decision to delay JUCO sports to 2021.

The National Junior College Athletic Association's governing body announced the delay of most of it's Fall athletics until the start of 2021.

For the Arizona Western College Matadors, that pretty much eliminates any participation in any sporting events for the rest of this calendar year.

The Matadors volleyball program, as well as men's and women's soccer will be on ice until next January.

News 11 Sports caught up with AWC Associate Athletic Director and Sports Information Director, Tim Slack, who believes the mandate passed down by the NJCAA was inevitable.

"I think we got an indication in the last week or two that enough people were having a difficult time. And even within the state of Arizona, coming up with a conference schedule. But with all that said, I think this is a solution that gives everybody the best opportunity possible." 

If this time frame follows through, it will mark a 9 month period without any JUCO sports in the Desert Southwest, as the concerns over the Coronavirus Pandemic have caused virtually all local sports to close down back in March.

Imperial Valley College had already made the decision a month ago not to allow any athletics to be played for the rest of 2020.

Meanwhile, Slack sees the newly announced delay as more of a blessing than a disappointment for a number of reasons.

The extra 4 months gives all community college athletics staffs more time to formulate a number of feasible options for the potential return of the various sports seasons.

Slack also believes it would be to the benefit of the student athletes, and not just for safety concerns.

"It really was impressive what they were able to do when their backs were up against the wall. I think this is the same thing. I think you are going to see student athletes come out of this and show their ability to handle adversity. And they rise to the challenge. And I think from that standpoint, you can't help but be excited to see what they are going to do because they are used to having set-backs. And so, you are going to see them succeed and I think you'll see the quality of play be pretty impressive as a result."