The New Mexico State University Board of Regents unanimously voted to allow student athletics to resume on Tuesday, but the school is taking extra precautionary measures after pushback from the governor’s office.
NMSU will implement a bubble for all student-athletes who wish to return to practice and competition, though it’s unclear whether the plan will go ahead due to the state’s restrictions currently in place.
“Although many colleges, athletic directors, and student athletes are eager to get back to the court, field or track, we must collectively commit ourselves to prioritizing public health,” wrote Stephanie Rodriguez, the state’s Acting Higher Education Department Secretary, according to ABC-7.
“Asking the State of New Mexico to make special accommodations for intercollegiate sports is a recipe for an outbreak and large-scale rapid response efforts in the event of a Covid-positive case.”
The bubble plan would require student-athletes to move into single unit dorms, shift all of their classes online, and receive food at their doorsteps.
“Both the men and the women will not be able to go home for Thanksgiving,” school Athletic Director Mario Moccia told ABC-7. “We’re placing an incredible burden on our student athletes. We’re very acutely aware of the mental health aspect that goes along with this.”
According to Moccia, out of 357 Division I college basketball programs, New Mexico State and the University of New Mexico are the only two that have not been able to practice due to COVID-19.
“It really puts stress on us to be able to perform when these restrictions are lifted, because everybody else is at that point where they’re able to practice together and we’re not,” said swim team member Katherine Harston, who is also the president of NMSU’s student athlete advisory committee. “That puts us behind.”
New Mexico currently will only allow sports teams to practice or compete if they’re located in a county with a 14-day average daily coronavirus case count of less than eight per 100,000, and a test positivity rate under 5%.
Doña Ana County, where NMSU is located, has averaged 84 daily cases per 100,000 from Oct.27 to Nov.9, per the state’s COVID-19 public dashboard, along with an 18.1% positivity rate.
“There are no exceptions to the state public health order, and violations of it will result in consequences,” said a spokeswoman for the governor’s office. “I would expect the leaders of an institution of higher education to know that legal directives can’t just be ignored.”
On Monday, student-athletes from five different schools in the state sent a letter to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham asking for her to allow them to begin practicing. Along with NMSU and the University of New Mexico, Western New Mexico University, Eastern New Mexico University and New Mexico Highlands University were also apart of the letter.
The students claimed that the positivity rates in their counties are much higher and do not reflect the numbers amongst the athletes on campus.
“Us student-athletes have been really trying to make sure that we are creating safe environments on our campus,” Harston said. “We’ve been doing a great job of that.”
The New Mexico State women’s swimming & diving team placed fourth at the 2020 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Championships. The school does not sponsor men’s swimming & diving.
Yes finally someone in the state of NM doing something to push back. The sad statement is the flagship university of the state won’t push back at all, and the athletes suffer.
Where do I begin? The Gov., MLG will only be happy when the case count is zero. The UNM football team is in a bubble in LAS VEGAS in order to navigate around the restrictions. I cannot imagine the cost of that. The UNM swim team has not had consistent training since school began. They get started, shut down, repeat. Athletes are super frustrated and there is no cohesion within the team. They can only have 10 people at the pool at a time including coaches/trainer. It’s such a joke at UNM (and the State in general). At least NMSU is doing something. Good for them.