The NCAA canceled the remaining games of the winter sports season March 12, leading to the National Junior College Athletic Association taking the same precautions. IVCC athletes and teams have had their seasons canceled due to the coronavirus.

Illinois Valley Community College athletes and teams are a part of the NJCAA. Athletes around the world automatically took part in feeling grief about the cancelations.

IVCC athletic director, Cory Tomasson said, “I think that the cancelation of all sports for the spring semester was a safe and intelligent move. While it may be upsetting to some individuals whose athletic careers may end, the unique current events required everyone to look at the situation in a much broader sense.”

Tomasson also stated, “There will be criticism from people who will say that the season should not have been canceled, while others will say that they waited too long to announce it. I personally think that the NJCAA got this right. The health and safety of the student-athletes, officials and fans are of the utmost importance.”

  Clay Wells, a freshman golfer at IVCC, said, “it was very disappointing to see the rest of the season get canceled. I was excited to play and compete this whole spring with my team but unfortunately it was cut short. I feel bad for the sophomores who lost the rest of their final season at IVCC. Wells also added, “I feel extremely bad for those sophomores who are trying to get recruited to play for the next two years.”

 IVCC head golf coach Sean Kennedy said, “Unfortunate for student-athlete to train and then not get the opportunity to compete. In the bigger picture, thankful the collegiate leaders had the courage to make a tough, unpopular decision.”

  The Eagles were looking forward to a fun and tough spring. Coming off of a successful spring break trip to St. Louis where Coach Sean Kennedy saw “a lot of improvement from various players.”

The baseball team had a successful spring break trip going 4-1 in Myrtle beach.

Mickey McDowell, an IVCC baseball player, stated, “We went 4-1. The bats were hot, were playing great games against great competition. This kept the team moral very high leading into our regular season that was eventually canceled.”

McDowell said, “Yeah it’s a bummer. I’ve been waiting to play all season long and in a snap of the fingers, we are done. Our trainer told us about the end of the season a few hours after we left Myrtle beach.” 

When asking McDowell what positive he can take out of this crisis. McDowell quickly stated, “This gives us an opportunity to become bigger and stronger for next year.”

Christian Perry, also a baseball player at IVCC said, “It was sad to see all the hard work that everyone put in during the offseason and not be able to showcase it, but I think the NJCAA made the right call.”

 Along with golf and baseball, softball and men’s tennis have also been canceled for the remainder of the year.