In response to surging cases in Monroe County, the University announced updated COVID-19 guidelines for students on Jan. 6. Centering around making classes asynchronous until at least Feb. 1 and heavily restricting any student gatherings, in-season athletic programs escaped relatively unscathed by these sudden changes; all NCAA-affiliated sports are allowed to continue, albeit without spectators.
Men’s and women’s basketball, squash, aquatic sports, and indoor track and field are all currently in season, and all but the basketball programs are paused as of Jan. 13. However, paused programs still have events scheduled as soon as Jan. 18, notably sooner than other campus groups are able to assemble. Whether or not these events will be held is “to be determined,” according to Executive Director of Athletics George VanderZwaag.
In keeping with National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) guidelines, athletes are only tested upon showing symptoms of COVID-19 despite the omicron variant resulting in more asymptomatic cases according to studies done in South Africa, where the variant emerged. Furthermore, athletic programs are still able to travel to and host other universities. Michigan, Duke, and Ohio State are all prominent NCAA Division I basketball programs that have experienced temporary scheduling breaks due to COVID-19, along with many fellow Division III programs.
If you are interested in supporting Rochester Yellowjacket athletics remotely during this time, a calendar with links to live stream events can be found on the athletics home page.