Belhaven football delayed as the American Southwest Conference pushes fall sports to the spring

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The American Southwest Conference Council of Presidents announced Friday that it will delay all fall sports including football to the spring of 2021.

The only Mississippi school affected by the change is Belhaven University in Jackson, which is a member of the ASC.

“We have worked for months and waited as long as is reasonably possible to launch a normal fall semester of athletics,” Scott Little, Belhaven vice president and director of athletics, said in a statement, “but the heightened level of exposure associated with fall sport competition, including constant direct contact and team travel, simply pose too great a risk to our student-athletes.

“Our expectation for the spring semester is a national health climate with significantly better COVID-19 management including enhanced monitoring tools and protocols.  It’s very disappointing now, but today we pivot and immediately direct our efforts toward preparation for essential out-of-season fall training for our sports programs.”

Belhaven’s football season was set to begin on Sept. 3 against Millsaps College.