Looking back to last August when college athletic conferences and universities were trying to decide whether to begin fall sports, or if the pandemic would keep them from being able to participate, we knew that if all the sports were pushed to the spring semester, it would make for a very busy time. That’s exactly the position college athletic departments are in right now.

With the basketball season into tournament time, that season will end soon for most universities, which will help lighten the load, however, several other sports are in full swing; baseball, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, softball, golf, track and tennis.

“That means for folks like me, and for the other administrators and trainers in our department, our workload has essentially doubled this semester,” said Murray Evans, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications at Oklahoma Christian University. “That’s even considering February through March is already our busiest time of the year. Until Feb. 28, we had every athlete on our campus – more than 400 of them – in season, meaning their teams were actively competing.”

The same is true for the University of Tulsa, minus the football team which did get to play in the fall, and for Oral Roberts University.

“This spring has been a logistical challenge for the entire ORU athletics department as we do everything possible to give our student-athletes a chance to compete in the best and safest conditions possible,” said Scott Slarks, ORU Assistant Athletic Director of Communications. “With as many as 12 teams competing in a single week, we have had to be very organized and flexible to handle everything. From coaches to administrators, everyone has stepped up to help and that has made the biggest difference.”

Even for me, this spring semester is extremely busy, and I don’t even work full-time at a university. I do the public address announcing for ORU baseball and volleyball, and this year, I’m doing the men’s and women’s soccer broadcasts on the ORU Sports Network. In February, I worked 13 games, and I have 16 games on the schedule for March.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. After so many sports being cancelled last year, and taking a financial hit personally, I welcome the work. However, it makes for some very busy weekends with more than one sport and more than one game on the same day, in fact, one Saturday at ORU, there was a baseball game, soccer match and men’s basketball game, all going on at the same time.

“My communications staff has done an incredible job of hosting up to three events simultaneously on campus with complete video coverage of each one on the recently upgraded ORU Sports Network, all while covering teams on the road,” Slarks said. “It has made things very chaotic in our office, but we have embraced that and been able to showcase some amazing student-athletes and their performances this spring.”

Every athletic department is dealing with this same type of schedule, however, some universities have a larger number of athletic personnel that can handle the work load, while the smaller staffs at the smaller schools, like ORU and OCU, are stretched pretty thin.

“It’s happening across the country, at every level of competition, as we struggle to keep up with the demands of the job during this crazy semester,” Evans said. “As I’ve told my boss, it often feels like we’re just fighting to keep our heads above water at times, and I know he understands, because he’s dealing with the same issues.”

If you’re as big a sports fan as I am, head to a local university on any given Saturday or Sunday, and take in a game or two, or three. There are plenty on the schedule from which to choose.