ABILENE, Texas – The American Southwest Conference announced Friday, March 13 that the Council of Presidents has chosen to immediately cancel all conference (ASC) athletics competition and championship events for the remainder of the 2019-20 academic year.

The cancellation includes all spring ASC competitions and championships in the sports of baseball, men's and women's golf, softball, men's and women's tennis, and men's and women's outdoor track and field.

Each ASC institution will make independent decisions regarding spring non-conference competition and practices as well as non-traditional spring segment practices and permissible competition in men's and women's cross country, football, men's and women's soccer, and volleyball.

Below is a statement from Vice President of Student Affairs and Intercollegiate Athletics Sam Ferguson on behalf of McMurry University Athletics in response to these developments:

Earlier today, the American Southwest Conference (ASC) Presidents Council, with input from the directors of athletics, made the decision to suspend all conference competitions in response to the recent COVID-19 outbreak. The ASC has allowed each institution to practice and compete in non-conference events as the institution sees fit, in accordance with NCAA season guidelines. Over the coming days, McMurry Athletics administrators and coaches will convene to discuss our way forward.

This is very tough news for us to share, because we all know how much passion goes into the effort of our scholar-athletes, coaches, and staff. At McMurry, in particular, the spring season was looking very promising, as most of our spring teams are off to a tremendous start and were poised to make an ASC Championship run. To say that the recent developments are disappointing would be an understatement. We know that a lot of blood, sweat, and tears from our community has gone into preparing for this season. Our hearts break for our scholar-athletes, coaches, and staff. However, we also understand and commend the ASC Presidents for making this tough decision.

Our number one priority as a Division III institution is to offer an exceptional experience for our scholar-athletes, while ensuring their development and teaching life skills through athletics participation. At McMurry, we call it Developing Champions for Life. Included in this top priority of scholar-athlete development is ensuring the safety and welfare of our community, which we take very seriously. Sometimes, we are called to make sacrifices for the greater good. We all want our competitions to continue, but you can be assured that this decision was made with the best interest of our communities in mind.

The NCAA has approved a blanket waiver for all scholar-athletes participating in spring sports as follows: (a) Waive the use of a season of participation for all student-athletes in spring sports.  If an institution continues or re-starts its season, this relief would still exist; and (b) Waive the use of the spring semester towards their limit of 10 semesters/15 quarters, regardless of whether they used a season. 

Eligibility can be complex and can create questions. We will do our best to answer your questions and encourage you to email them to athletics.info@mcm.edu. We will work diligently to keep you informed as best we can. You are also encouraged to continue monitoring McMurry updates on this evolving situation at mcm.edu/coronavirus.

Finally, we would like to thank our community for their productive response to this situation. At McMurry, we pride ourselves on the grit that our community embodies. Author Jon Gordon reminds us the importance of persevering through difficult situations. He says, "When you encounter adversity, remember, the best don't just face adversity; they embrace it, knowing it's not a dead end but a detour to something greater and better." With grit and the right perspective, we will not only get through this crisis together, but we can use this experience to make McMurry and the ASC even better.

Thank you, again, for all the ways you are responding to this evolving situation and may God bless us all!

For updates, follow @mcmsports on Twitter and visit mcmurrysports.com.