THRIVING ATHLETICS
Bison athletic program prepared to compete in a COVID world As the old adage goes, athletics are the front porch of a university—and this year that front porch has been anything but its typical portal into all an institution has to offer. Just like every other aspect of university life, COVID-19 has impacted intercollegiate athletics like nothing else in history. Beginning this past spring when the NCAA cancelled March Madness, institutions across the country experienced spring and fall semesters with entire seasons cancelled. Athletic conferences, national governing bodies and university officials worked diligently in the ensuing months to develop protocols and strategies to safely provide student athletes the opportunity to practice their skills and to represent their institutions in competition as well as to provide a way for fans to support their favorite teams virtually or in the stands.
Per NCAA guidelines, student athletes and coaches are tested for COVID-19 three times a week by Will Ness, head athletic trainer.
Director of Athletics Philip Hutcheson has led the charge on Lipscomb’s campus along with his administrative team, coaches and student athletes in partnership with Dr. Kevin Eidson, director of health and wellness for the university, to steer the Bison athletics program down this uncharted path. Their efforts have resulted in robust protocols for Lipscomb’s more than 300 student athletes and 17 teams and coaches who have prepared for the return to competition. Men’s and women’s basketball seasons began in November with a spring semester on the horizon that will see all teams—both fall and spring sports—in competition. “Without a doubt this has been a very unusual chapter in the annals of Bison athletics,” Hutcheson admits. “2020 has led us to examine practically every aspect of our program and to develop new approaches to just about everything we do.”
A New ‘Normal’ Lipscomb Athletics has developed stringent protocols, which follow local, state, federal, ASUN conference and NCAA guidelines along with their own internal measures to make the experience as safe as possible so teams can compete. Per NCAA guidelines, student athletes and coaches receive surveillance COVID-19 testing three times a week while in season. Eidson and the Lipscomb University Health Center team have worked closely with Will Ness, head athletic trainer, to implement the testing routine and to educate student athletes and coaches about COVID-19 protocols such as wearing a mask, frequent hand washing and social distancing. “Will and the Lipscomb training team have been phenomenal partners in this
