DAYTON, Ohio — As pro sports teams are gearing up to potentially return to the field, one Ohio College has made the decision to suspend athletics for the full academic year.
- Sinclair Community College is cancelling all athletic activity through the 2020-2021 academic year
- Sinclair President Steve Johnson said the college cannot see practice, play or travel without violating social distancing
- Current student-athletes are offered guaranteed paid tuition to continue their education at Sinclair and the school will honor scholarships for 2021 commits
What You Need To Know
Sinclair Community College announced it has canceled all athletic activities for the 20-21 academic year.
The college says this decision was due to the coronavirus pandemic — one that was devastating for their incoming student-athletes.
“I didn’t think the decision was going to be made so soon,” Sinclair commit Matthew McElligott said.
McElligott is a pitcher from Bishop Hartley High School in Columbus, who was committed to play baseball at Sinclair, but now he’s looking for a new place to play.
“Yeah, definitely not part of the plan,” he said. “Wasn’t expecting it at all and again, was super excited to go down there and play for all those guys. But yeah, I think it was a little too early, I wish it were my decision but it’s not.”
Peyton Lane is an infielder at National Trail High School in New Paris, Ohio, who was looking forward to playing at Sinclair next year — especially after his senior season in high school was cancelled.
“It’s more devastating that it’s just one after another,” Lane said.
But as he starts the process to find a new home, he’s grateful Sinclair’s coaches are helping him along the way. But he said he feels terrible for Sinclair baseball coach Steve Dintaman, who has to rebuild from scratch next year.
“He puts all his time in effort into that program,” Lane said. “He’s done such great things with that program, for this to go down I just feel horrible for him. I’m sure he’s devastated along with all of us.”
Dintaman’s Tartan Pride baseball team is a dominant force in the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference winning an average of 49 games a season over the past six years.
Dintaman was not made available for comment by Sinclair. But his program is just one of five sports at Sinclair that are impacted by the announcement. Sinclair also participates in men’s and women’s basketball, women’s softball, and women’s volleyball.
The move to cancel through the entire academic year comes ahead of the NCAA, who has yet to make a decision on fall sports for 2020."
Sinclair president Dr. Steve Johnson said in a release:
“The safety of our students and staff is of utmost importance and we have determined that it is in the best interest of our campus community that we follow the recommendations of public health authorities and cancel our athletics activities for the rest of the year. After much consideration, we see very little possibility within the next year for our athletics teams to practice, play and travel together without violating social distancing measures."
Sinclair wanted to give student-athletes the most time possible to make adjustments.
According to a Sinclair press release: each individual who signed an initial NJCAA letter of intent to attend Sinclair and participate on a team during the 2020-2021 academic year will receive guartanteed free tuition and regular fees with federal financial aid grants and Sinclair scholarships, as needed, as well as direct support from Sinclair to support their academic progress.
But if they commit to staying with Sinclair, their original scholarships will be honored.
And while it’s been a tough pill to swallow for incoming recruits, McElligott says he’s trying to stay optimistic through the process.
“I took 10 minutes to think, ‘oh me, oh my.’ And then right after that, I’m getting after it,” he said. “I’m working every day to find a different school, looking for that opportunity to play somewhere else.”