The Navy Athletics Department has cancelled all Naval Academy varsity and clubs ports through Sunday as a result of the government shutdown, releasing the following statement on Thursday:
The Department of Defense has cancelled all Naval Academy varsity and club sports through Sunday as a result of the government shutdown.
Navy and Air Force have received approval from the Department of Defense to play Saturday’s football game at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 11:40 a.m. and the game will be televised nationally by CBS.
Navy was scheduled to host Loyola (MD) and George Mason in a swim meet on Thursday, which they then hoped to reschedule for Saturday, but now that will not be happening either. Events will be rescheduled, as the calendar allows, per the release.
This is a different interpretation that a release this afternoon from Army, who has said that their football game against Boston College will be played, as will any other sporting events not previously cancelled. Army is scheduled to host Boston, Vermont on Saturday.
The Air Force Academy has still made no official proclamation for their teams outside of football, other than to say that no travel would happen during the shutdown. The women’s swimming program was scheduled to travel to face New Mexico on Saturday.
Though Navy’s decision should help alleviate some uncertainty in the schedule, especially with regard to travelling, it seems odd that the three Division I service academies have each gotten different interpretations of the rules during the partial government shutdown.
The two other federally-funded service academies, the Coast Guard Academy and the Merchant Marine Academy, have several weeks before their intercollegiate schedules begin.
Why not do the swim meet via Skype?