Covid-19 and Charlotte Athletics

The pandemic has impacted every program across the country and now it's Charlotte's turn

As the world continues to fight Covid-19 and life tries to go back to some kind of normalcy, businesses, sports leagues, academics and every industry under the sun has been impacted by the pandemic. This has brought a lot of changes in the way organizations run their operations and many drastic cuts have been made to stay afloat during these uncertain times.

UNC Charlotte has taken a lot of steps to ensure the safety and security of the school during this time and has been praised many times across the state for the amount of care they have shown to the safety of the community.

Athletics have taken a hit with the cancelation of Fall 2020 sports, except for football, and many other athletic programs have had to disband entire teams and staff to keep the programs financially alive. The threat of debt can be damaging, especially in collegiate sports and the uncertainty of the pandemic and the precautions that must be taken to protects players and staff can create more problems than just missing a game.

The past few weeks for Charlotte athletics have seen the clusters of Covid-19 cases across the men's basketball team, volleyball, football, and baseball. Athletic Director Mike Hill has been very direct with the players and staff about how serious the department is in taking health protocol seriously, but the rise in cases among the programs may take a toll on the availability for play in the future.

Charlotte football has now had to miss four games due to contact tracing. It is in agreement, of course, that the safety of all players and staff must be at the forefront of all decisions regarding these measures and the completion of a full season is not as important as the health of our players.

It was reported by College AD this week that Charlotte 49ers Athletics will be furloughing multiple staff members within the department due to the budgeting crisis at UNC Charlotte. Chancellor Gaber took the head job this summer and her first task given to her by the state was to cut funding between 25-50%. This was not an easy task by any means, but this is the reality universities are facing during the pandemic.

Where these cuts will be made in the department, we are not entirely sure, but we can expect changes to be staff related as of now and what has been reported.

Charlotte has been very fortunate going into the pandemic back in March being financially stable from strong alumni support and funds from the Judy Rose era. The growth of Charlotte Athletics has brought more television time and national publicity which will be profitable in the future, but as Covid continues to be an issue, the most that can be done is to follow through with safety protocols and plan as much as possible for the uncertain future.

What collegiate sports does in the future to mend the damage from Covid is uncertain now, but what can be done right now is for the patience and support of these athletic communities to continue as we all try to get through this uncertain time.