Louisville suspends athletic activities of 4 fall sports after COVID-19 outbreak

It is not a positive day when it comes to the coronavirus and college athletics as we get closer to the start of fall sports.

On Wednesday, the University of Louisville announced in an email that it has temporarily suspended all team-related activities for men’s/women’s soccer, field hockey, and volleyball.

The decision to suspend the activities was made after 29 members of the four teams tested positive for COVID-19.

It was also reported that the outbreak of cases within these teams was traced back to an off-campus party.

The athletes that did not test positive and were not traced to the off-campus party may return to athletic activities Monday.

“Though all student-athletes have been well-educated about the dangers of social gatherings to themselves and to others, UofL leaders have again reinforced the necessity to adhere to state, local, and Center for Disease Control (CDC) medical guidelines and procedures for the health and safety of all,” The school noted in a statement.

The good news is that the outbreak wasn’t due to the teams being back to sports activities. The bad news is this continues to show how easily this virus can be spread and will only make having fall college sports more difficult.

As is currently stands, no D-I fall sports have been cancelled, but college football has already pushed the season back to late September, and most leagues have decided to go with a conference-only schedule for the 2020 season.