ACAC Suspends Consumption of All Student-Athlete Eligibility During 2020-21 Season

Please note: This release is from the ACAC

EDMONTON, AB (June 26, 2020) – The Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference announced today that all ACAC student-athletes participating during the 2020-21 season will not consume eligibility against the 5-year maximum allotment for ACAC/CCAA post-secondary student-athletes.

This decision follows the June 26, 2020 vote by the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Board of Directors to do likewise, with respect to CCAA eligibility during the 2020-21 season. The CCAA had previously ruled that student-athlete eligibility would not be consumed for student-athletes competing in sports where the CCAA had already cancelled the Fall 2020 National Championships including - Golf, Cross Country Running and Soccer. Today's ruling means that athletes participating in other CCAA National Championship sports – Basketball, Volleyball, Badminton, and Curling – will not consume CCAA eligibility regardless of whether the CCAA National Championship proceeds or is cancelled at a later date due to complications arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.

During a June 25, 2020 Special General Meeting of the ACAC Conference Council the ACAC had supported a motion to suspend eligibility for all ACAC student-athletes in 2020-21, pending the outcome of the CCAA Board vote today. The objective is to align ACAC and CCAA student-athlete eligibility standards for the upcoming season. The result of today's CCAA announcement ensures that ACAC student-athletes, whether competing in a CCAA sanctioned sport or an ACAC-only sanctioned sport, like Hockey, Futsal and Indoor Track – will not use up a year of eligibility.

"Given the uncertainty of the upcoming season which has been planned with condensed schedules, as well as the mental and physical-training challenges our student-athletes have been forced to cope with over the past few months and will continue to deal with during the summer and fall,  this was the right decision.  The ACAC members are committed to creating the best possible post-secondary sport experience but there are so many factors out of our control. This decision removes some of the risk for student-athletes who want to return but are concerned about the possibility of an abbreviated or canceled season", commented ACAC President Jim Knight.

ACAC/CCAA student-athletes are allocated a maximum of 5 years of post-secondary sport eligibility. The ACAC had previously canceled the Fall 2020 season and shifted all two-semester sports and Winter semester sports for completion in the Winter 2021 semester beginning in January and concluding April. This includes the sports of Basketball, Volleyball, Hockey, Badminton, Curling, Futsal, and Indoor Track.  The canceled Fall sports – Golf, Soccer, and Cross Country Running – have been scheduled for a Spring 2021 season of play from April to June.

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For more information, contact:

Mark Kosak, CEO
(403) 875-7329 
markk@acac.ab.ca