HILLSBORO, Ore. - The Northwest Conference Presidents' Council (NWC) has made the decision to suspend all conference competition and championships until January 1, 2021 based on changing federal, state, local and NCAA health directives.

All conference competition in men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, men's and women's tennis, along with the winter sports of men's and women's basketball and men's and women's swimming are now included in the suspension. The NWC is continuing to work to develop a schedule for competition for these sports in the spring semester.

The Presidents' Council continues to support institutional autonomy regarding the decision to participate in non-conference intercollegiate athletics.

The NWC, along with its member institutions, have been working diligently over the past several months to plan for the safe reopening of their campuses this fall while prioritizing the health and well-being of students, faculty, staff and campus communities.
 
"First, I want to thank our coaches, student-athletes, parents, and staff for their patience, understanding, and flexibility as we have spent the last six months trying to navigate the complexities of having intercollegiate athletics while managing risk for the COVID-19 virus," said interim Athletic Director Jen Thomas.

"We tried to balance the health & safety of our student-athletes with the teams' desire to compete this fall, but in the end the decision was made to delay the start of competition until after January 1. I'm beyond disappointed that our facilities will be void of athletic competition this fall but am optimistic that we will be able to watch our teams compete this spring."

Practice and other athletically related activities for all sports at member institutions' campuses are permitted in accordance with NCAA Division III rules as well as institutional and state and local health directives.

"Our coaches have been working diligently on creating practice plans to maximize the student-athletes' experience this fall and I know we have the opportunity to positively impact the lives of our 450 student-athletes through those practices and the other holistic development opportunities we provide our athletes."
 
The NWC will continue to monitor changing federal, state and local health directives and consult with our NWC health advisory group, the NCAA and public health officials as we look to make any additional decisions in the upcoming months and beyond. We will provide updates as they become available.