Haverford College cancels fall soccer, conference rivals re-evaluating in September

Haverford College has joined local rivals Swarthmore College in canceling soccer and other sports for this fall.

“We realize that cancelling sport competition for the first semester is not the decision you had hoped to hear, even if not unexpected,” a statement from Joyce Bylander, interim dean of the College and Wendy Smith, director of athletics, reads. “While this was an extremely difficult decision, it was made after much deliberation and with your and the rest of our community’s safety as the number one priority.”

The statement went further than one released by the Centennial Conference on Tuesday. That said soccer and other fall sports would be suspended at least until September when the possibility of a season would be re-evaluated.

The Centennial Conference includes Swarthmore, which has already canceled fall sports and fellow Pennsylvania schools Ursinus College, Cabrini College, Franklin & Marshall College, Dickinson College, Bryn Mawr College and Gettysburg College.

“Given health and other related concerns, the Centennial Conference Presidents Council has decided to suspend any inter-collegiate competition for sports scheduled for the fall semester,” the statement reads. “The presidents will reevaluate this decision by the end of September, based on work to be done by the Conference to assess sports-specific activities and the experiences on the schools’ campuses. The presidents have determined football will not be played in the fall. The Conference will also explore the possibility of shifting certain fall sports, including football, to the spring.”

TCNJ and Lehigh Carbon Community College have also canceled soccer and other sports for the fall.