SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota – The Summit League’s Presidents Council agreed to delay the start of fall sports for member institutions until Sept. 23 based upon the recommendation from the League’s Joint Council due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The delay will result in a conference-only schedule for the sports of women’s soccer, men’s soccer and volleyball.

Competitive schedule for men’s and women’s cross country and non-championship segments for men’s and women’s golf and men’s and women’s tennis will also be delayed until September 23, as will the non-traditional seasons for baseball and softball.

New schedules will be adopted for each sport by the Joint Council in the coming weeks. Training and practices may continue to be conducted at the discretion of each institution in accordance with NCAA regulations and local health and safety guidelines.

This delay does not affect any winter or spring sports. If necessary, any decisions involving those seasons will be made at a later date.

ORU has a program in the Summit League for every sport affected by the announcement. But since ORU does not have a football team, there shouldn’t be a financial impact because the sports that are affected are non-revenue sports.