Saturday’s Game Is Still On Officially Despite Alcorn State’s Covid Situation
As of now the Jaguars home game against Alcorn State is still officially on. However it seems to be a bit in limbo due to a lack of athletic trainers.
The Braves were not allowed to practice on Monday or Tuesday due to all of the part-time athletic trainers for the team testing positive for Covid.
Due to NCAA rules, team cannot practice without on-site medical staff present.
According to people who spoke with USA TODAY on the condition of anonymity, the football team’s activities on Tuesday were “limited to a walkthrough where University-employed nurses – not a certified athletic trainer – were allowed to pass out ice bags.”
“We’ve got a big game (at South Alabama) that’s going to make the university money, and we can’t go out and get treatment for the young men and women,” head coach Fred McNair said via Football Scoop. “We can’t get treatment or rehab on this day, not knowing what’s going to happen tomorrow.
“This is something that needs to be fixed. This is an administration issue. I could talk about it all the way till I turn blue. This has got to be fixed. We’ve got to be able to pay somebody to be the Alcorn State athletic trainer, and we don’t have one. That’s disheartening.”
While most of the FCS played their 2020 season in the spring of 2021, Alcorn State opted out entirely. It was framed as Covid-19 concerns.
According to sources talking with USA TODAY, the team’s upperclassmen opted not to play because the school did not have a full-time strength coach or an athletic trainer during the pandemic and they did not feel prepared to play.
A full-time athletic trainer was hired at the end of January but left in July for a health care job in the private sector. Instead of hiring a replacement, the athletic department chose to use two part-time trainers who were not vaccinated, according to the source.
No players or coaches have tested positive for Covid. The two part-time trainers tested positive prior to Saturday’s game against Northwestern State. The trainer that left in July was brought back on a temporary basis to get through the game. When players came in on Sunday for treatment, he informed the staff he would not be able to come back on Monday.
South Alabama would be owed $360,000 in liquidated damages if the game isn’t played per their contract.