REPORTS: Ivy League soccer season could be moved to spring

Multiple reports have indicated that the Ivy League is likely to announce as early as Wednesday that fall sports, including men’s and women’s soccer, will be pushed back to the spring.

The expected mid-week announcement would fall in line with recent news out of several Ivy League institutions, which are taking measures to drastically reduce in-person classes.

Harvard University unveiled its plans for the academic year on Monday, minimizing in-class learning for both the fall and spring semesters. Although roughly 40 percent of the student body will be on campus at any given time, most classes will be held virtually, in order to promote social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yale and Princeton will be following similar academic schedules as Harvard, while the University of Pennsylvania is also imposing restrictions on the size of in-person gatherings this fall.

One unnamed Ivy League coach told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he and other coaches are expecting all 2020 fall sports to be re-scheduled for the spring of 2021.

Several Division III colleges have already cancelled their fall seasons, while NCAA Division I conferences are also beginning to implement restrictions or delays.

During the initial coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., the Ivy League was among the first NCAA conferences to cancel games in March. It remains unclear if the Ivy League will once again be the first of many dominoes to fall in a wave of cancellations, or if other NCAA conferences and professional leagues will push forward this time with their own plans.