NCAA mulls pushing back Season 96 opening to November

MANILA, Philippines — The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) is considering pushing back its 96th season to December this year due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Usually opening in July, the NCAA management committee (ManCom) is reportedly discussing the possibility of the delayed season kickoff with the situation of the current health crisis.

First reported by Waylon Galvez of the Manila Bulletin and Mark Escalorte of ABS-CBN Sports, the ManCom said that their recommendation for the calendar change will be submitted to the league's Policy Board next week for a final decision.

President Rodrigo Duterte had recently approved a recommendation from the Inter-Agency Task Force to move the opening of the 2020-2021 school year to September.

However, this reecommendation would not include colleges and universities with the Commission on Higher Education giving institutions the choice on how to adjust their calendars.

NCAA Season 95 was recently terminated due to the coronavirus pandemic, affecting second semester sports like volleyball, football, athletics and tennis.

Rival league UAAP has yet to make any decisions on their possible schedule for Season 83 after its 82nd season was also terminated due to the crisis.