Mountain West athletes followed the lead of their peers in the Pac-12 and Big Ten on Thursday when players across several teams shared on social media a statement of concerns related to the coronavirus.
“We, the athletes, do not feel safe enough participating in this upcoming season without reform,” the statement from #MWUnited reads in part.
It continues: “Although the coaching staffs of the Mountain West have taken commendable steps to revolutionize the way we train and grow, we do not feel comfortable playing teams from other states.
“It is difficult to believe that hundreds of 17 to 22-year-old college students are capable of social-distancing effectively enough to travel state-to-state for 10 weeks.”
It goes on to list a series of demands related to testing and safety, followed by extending eligibility and medical coverage and providing whistleblower protection.
“As stated before,” it concludes, “COVID-19 has dynamically changed the world. This includes us. We are more than athletes, we are United.”
There were no individual names attached to the statement, although it did include logos from the Mountain West’s 12 members.
Athletes from several conference schools, including Boise State, Colorado State, Hawaii, Nevada and UNLV shared the statement on Twitter.
San Diego State defensive back Darren Hall retweeted the statement posted by a Hawaii player and followed with the tweet “#MWUnited.”
The MW issued a response Thursday night:
“The Mountain West has become aware this evening of a social media posting from #MWUnited. As outlined in yesterday’s announcement by the MW Board of Directors, the Mountain West’s revised fall sports plan will align with the requirements set forth by the NCAA Board of Governors. In addition, the MW continues to develop comprehensive testing and reporting procedures, building on the NCAA Resocialization of College Sport: Developing Standards for Practice and Competition.
“As a result, nearly all of the issues which have been raised are already being addressed. Additional clarity will be provided via upcoming decisions of the NCAA Division I Board of Directors on August 14 and August 21, as well as on-going efforts by multiple groups within the Mountain West governance structure. The Mountain West and its member institutions value the input of our most important constituents, our student-athletes, and look forward to continued communication with our long-standing MW Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.”
Just an hour before the MWUnited statement came out, John David Wicker, SDSU’s director of athletics, had been asked by a reporter about the Pac-12 and Big Ten statements. One question was whether he thought Mountain West athletes in general or SDSU athletes in particular would do something similar.
“There’s, obviously, a lot of questions about (NCAA) Board of Governors information that came out earlier this week and concerns about COVID-19 in general,” Wicker said. “But they also recognize that a lot of work has gone into what we’re doing and I think they genuinely feel that we have their health and safety in mind with everything we’re developing and that we’re not going to put them needlessly in harm’s way.
“We’ve started talking to our student athletes about it, asking questions and making sure they have all the information.”
The Pac-12 statement included financial requests — like revenue sharing — that was absent in the Big Ten and Mountain West statements.
“Some of the stuff (the Pac-12 players) asked for technically you can’t do, as far as distribution of revenue and those types of things,” Wicker said. “Now you’re becoming an employee and we’ve got legal rulings that a student-athlete is a student and they’re not going to be an employee.”
Wicker said SDSU already had conducted conversations with many of its athletes on these topics.
“I think the entire football team has now had conversations with coaches and administrators,” he said. “and we talked about it on our Leadership Council call (Wednesday) night as well.”
SDSU’s Leadership Council includes representatives from each of the school’s sports teams.
“It’s good dialogue,” Wicker said. “It’s one of those things that’s kind of come out of all this. Student-athletes are using their voice, and that’s not a bad thing.”
The full #MWUnited Statement:
To the Mountain West Conference,
As the foundation of the entertainment and competition provided by the sport of Gridiron Football, we, the athletes, do not feel safe enough participating in this upcoming season without reform. There is too much ambiguity surrounding the state of affairs inn this country to demand competition as we know it. These last four months have altered the lives of not just Americans, but the human race. We have families and children just like any fan, coach, citizen, or worker. The virus is rampant and real in this country.
Although the coaching staffs of the Mountain West have taken commendable steps to revolutionize the way we train and grow, we do not feel comfortable playing teams from other states. It is difficult to believe that hundreds of 17 to 22-year-old college students are capable of social-distancing effectively enough to travel state-to-state for 10 weeks. This is evident in the reports released by several schools that have had an increase in cases of COVID-19 following return to OTA-style workouts. For these reasons, we have established conditions to be agreed upon amongst the conference, coaches, and athletes in order to ensure our health, safety, and well-being:
Testing, Prevention, Safety
• Athletes will receive COVID-19 tests every week and at least 72 hours before each match as instructed by the NCAA
• Staff members, including coaches, trainers, and anyone in contact with athletes, will receive COVID-19 tests every week
• Football facilities will follow strict cleaning protocols with adherence to CDC guidelines
• Contact-tracing protocols with adherence to CDC guidelines
• Proper accommodations and safety standards for alternative outdoor facilities put in place to adhere with social-distancing guidelines
Eligibility and Scholarship
• Athletes who choose to opt-out of season due to COVID-19 concerns will receive a hardship waiver to grant them an additional year of eligibility, regardless of athlete’s timeline on five-year clock
• Athletes who contract COVID-19 during season, and miss more than 30% of competition, will receive a hardship waiver to grant them an additional year of eligibility, regardless of athletes timeline on five-year clock
• In event of cancellation of over 50% of scheduled season, all athletes will receive a hardship waiver to grant them an additional year of eligibility, regardless of athlete’s timeline on five-year clock
• Preserve scholarship (including tuition and fees, room and board, and cost-of-attendance stipend) and roster spot for any athlete who is granted hardship waiver due to COVID-19
Player Assurances
• Ban and void all COVID-19 liability waivers
• Ensure coverage of all out-of-pocket medical expenses related to COVID-19 incurred by athletes for five years after exhaustion of eligibility
• Whistleblower protection for athletes and staff who report suspected violations to COVID-19 safety protocols
As stated before, COVID-19 has dynamically changed the world. This includes us. We are more than athletes, we are United.
With Regard,
Mountain West United
#MWU
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