Release from the Grand Junction Baseball Committee:
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - The NJCAA announced today it is canceling all games and championships for the remainder of the school year, including the Alpine Bank Junior College World Series. The JUCO World Series was scheduled for May 23-30 at Suplizio Field.
“When the NCAA announced they were shutting down Omaha, we pretty much expected it to happen with JUCO,” Tournament Chairman Jamie Hamilton said. “We’ve been reaching out to our partners with our sponsorships and put everything on a two-week hold figuring we were going to have a better sense in mid-March, and that’s what happened
“I’m more disappointed with the impact it will have on the people who help us, the security people who volunteer their time, the Little League teams that help sell JUCO programs to raise some dollars for their own tournaments. It’s going to leave a mark on a lot of people.”
Fans who have renewed or purchased tournament passes will have their money refunded. Those plans are being finalized with the ticket vendor and will be posted at jucogj.org when available.
Release from the NJCAA:
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Following the recent recommendations from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the NJCAA has made the difficult decision to cancel all upcoming basketball championships as well as spring competition, effective immediately.
"In light of the progressive evolvement of the COVID-19 situation, the NJCAA has decided to end all competition for the remainder of the academic year," stated Dr. Christopher Parker, NJCAA President & CEO. "As an association, the NJCAA exhausted all possible avenues to potentially postpone competition for both upcoming basketball championships and spring sport competition. We believe following the recommendations of the CDC is in the best interest of our member colleges and our student-athletes."
Spring competition includes all practices, regular season, postseason, and national championship play.
Regarding eligibility for spring sports, no spring sport student-athlete who was enrolled at a member college in 2020 will be charged a year of participation.
Along with the cancellation of competition, all on and off-campus recruiting for all sports will be halted until April 15 with further evaluation to be assessed at that point in time.
The NJCAA will explore the opportunity to expand allowable Letters of Intent for spring sports for both the 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years under the recommendation of the NJCAA Eligibility Committee.
The NJCAA will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as more information becomes available.