BC3 Cancels Seasons Of 3 Indoor Intercollegiate Sports

(Butler, PA) The seasons of Butler County Community College’s three indoor intercollegiate athletic programs postponed last fall to this winter have been canceled with continued regard to COVID-19 and in observance of out-of-state travel orders announced by the state Department of Health on Nov. 17.

The college announced Monday its cancellation of its men’s and women’s basketball seasons, and of its volleyball season for the 2020-2021 academic year. BC3 will determine later whether the seasons of its intercollegiate athletic programs in baseball, golf and softball will be held.

BC3’s indoor athletic programs travel to Maryland, New York and West Virginia for regular-season games or matches. Advanced rounds of recent National Junior College Athletic Association Division III playoffs have been held in North Carolina.

On Nov. 17, the Pennsylvania Department of Health issued an order requiring Pennsylvanians traveling out of state to have a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours prior to returning, or to quarantine for 10 days upon returning to the commonwealth.

BC3’s spring semester begins Jan. 19. The college announced Oct. 13 that credit courses opening the spring semester would be delivered by remote or online instruction through Feb. 8 as a precaution with regard to possible changing transmission levels of COVID-19 during the traditional flu season.

The season of the college’s volleyball squad is held from September to November, and of its basketball teams, from November to February.

The Pioneers’ volleyball and women’s basketball teams will defend titles once their programs resume.

BC3’s volleyball team in October 2019 won its fifth consecutive Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference crown, tying the conference mark it set in claiming titles from 2002-2006. The Pioneers in 2019 also won their second NJCAA Division III Region XX championship in a row and concluded their season in the NJCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic District Tournament in Pinehurst, N.C.

The college’s women’s basketball squad in early February 2020 captured its second consecutive WPCC championship and fourth in five years.

BC3’s spring and fall seasons in golf in 2020 were canceled, as were the 2020 seasons of the college’s baseball and softball teams.

The college’s fall golf season features in-state and out-of-state WPCC play. The Pioneers’ spring season features regional play and tournaments, and possible NJCAA Division III national championship appearances in Chautauqua, N.Y. BC3 in 2019 won its fourth NJCAA Division III Region XX crown and sent five golfers to Chautauqua seeking All-American status.