United East Presidents' Council Makes Statement on Fall Sports Protocol

LATHAM, N.Y. – With regards to the upcoming fall athletic season, the United East Presidents' Council has unanimously endorsed best practices and policies for focusing on the health and safety of its students, faculty, staff, and surrounding communities. The conference will continue to monitor NCAA, CDC, local, and state guidance around the COVID-19 Pandemic and adjust existing protocols if necessary. Our institutions continue to put the health and safety of our communities as its focus for all our decisions to conduct athletic competition.

Spectators and Visitors

With those minimums in mind for our competing programs, each institution will set their own policies for spectators and visitors. Please check school websites prior to attending any United East competition as protocols may vary. It is anticipated that these policies may change throughout the season, therefore we ask spectators and visitors to review campus policies prior to each and every visit. Spectators and visitors should always be prepared with a mask if the need arises to use indoor facilities as most institutions require indoor masking of all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, at this time. We also ask that spectators respect the campus policies provided and avoid attempts at circumventing the current policies provided by an institution. Outside spectators and visitors who disregard campus policies, and the athletic program they represent, will be reported to the conference office. In the event that a campus is prohibited from allowing spectators at any point during the season, efforts will be made to provide a webcast if conditions permit.

Testing & Mitigation

All institutions will be required to follow the most recent NCAA recommendations for 2021 fall training and competition. The United East will follow the NCAA testing recommendations based on the vaccination status of Tier 1 personnel within each of its fall sports programs. The updated NCAA document also provides mitigation guidelines for travel and non-athletic activities for Tier 1 personnel that teams will be expected to adhere to. Given the rapidly changing landscape, the United East will adapt its protocols following any changes to the NCAA recommendations throughout the season. For information on the current NCAA Resocialization of Sport recommendations, please visit the link HERE: NCAA Resocialization of Sport - 2021 Fall Training and Competition

It should be noted that an institution may have a policy that is stricter than that of the NCAA recommendations. The NCAA recommendations are the conference-wide minimum and any stricter campus policies supersede the minimums noted in the NCAA document.

COVID Postponement & Forfeit Policy

In the event that a fall contest is postponed due to the COVID protocols, the conference office will work with the athletic directors of the competing institutions to seek a mutually agreeable date, time, and location to reschedule the contest. In the event that the contest cannot be rescheduled, the game will be deemed a forfeit in the conference standings and for postseason seeding purposes. The team unable to compete due to COVID will be notated with a loss, while its opponent will receive a win. For NCAA purposes, the game will be considered a no contest.

United East Fall Championships

The United East anticipates hosting five championship events this fall in men's cross country, women's cross country, men's soccer, women's soccer and women's volleyball. The men's and women's cross country championship is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 30 at Lancaster Bible College. The men's soccer, women's soccer and women's volleyball tournaments are scheduled for Nov. 5-6, with each tournament held on the campus of its respective No. 1 seed. COVID protocols and spectator policies for championships will be announced in the week prior to the conference tournament with consideration for NCAA recommendations and the policies of the host institution at the time of the championship event.

Winter and Spring Sports

Policy updates and recommendations will be announced prior to the start of the winter and spring seasons, respectively.