McNeese suspends all fall sports following Southland Conference postponement

LAKE CHARLES – McNeese State University has elected to suspend all intercollegiate sports competition for the fall semester with an intent to play in the spring, Interim Director of Athletics Heath Schroyer announced on Thursday.

This follows an announcement made Thursday morning by the Southland Conference Board of Directors to suspend all league-only competition for its schools in the sports of football, volleyball, women’s soccer and cross country with an intent to play conference competition in the spring semester and compete for championships.

Other Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) conferences that have altered or suspended their fall competition season includes the Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Ivy League, Mid-Eastern Athletic, Missouri Valley Football League, Northeast, Patriot, Pioneer Football League and the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

The vote by the Southland Conference gave member institutions the option of participating in limited non-conference competition in the fall, but McNeese is among the majority of league institutions in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas that are expected to postpone all intercollegiate contests this fall.

“After consulting with (McNeese President) Dr. (Daryl) Burckel and numerous medical professionals, we feel like this is the right decision,” said Interim Director of Athletics Heath Schroyer. “We are student-athlete centered and the health and safety of all of our student-athletes is first and foremost.”

Though teams will not participate in outside competition, student-athletes will remain engaged in team activities in preparation of the spring season.

“This decision impacts many people including our fans, alumni, marching band, dance team and cheerleaders, but it is the right decision. This an unprecedented time but I couldn’t be more excited about our future,” said Schroyer.

Southland Conference athletic directors are beginning discussions for a return to competition in the spring.

The McNeese Ticket Office is working on information regarding season tickets and will release the details as they become available.