Off-campus party leads to COVID positives at Louisville, suspension of four sports
The University of Louisville has suspended workouts for four fall sports programs after 29 athletes tested positive for COVID-19.
All team-related activities for men’s and women’s soccer, field hockey and volleyball were halted on Monday following the positive tests, which have been traced primarily to an off-campus party.
On Wednesday, Louisville Vice President and Director of Athletics Vince Tyra said during a media teleconference that through contact tracing the university determined that the party occurred Saturday at a facility near the U of L campus.
“It goes without saying that I’m incredibly disappointed and frustrated today with what’s occurred,” Tyra said. “We’ve noted from the very beginning that we have a strong commitment from our medical and administrative staff in the athletic department that we expect to be met with the same commitment from our student athletes and unfortunately we’ve had a failure in the recent week to do so.
“Today I met with the SAC Executive Board, which is comprised of student-athlete leaders, to make them aware and enlist their assistance in communicating the need to follow those protocols, and meet expectations of their conduct outside of the oversight athletic staff. Needless to say, it was an apologetic and somber group. The student-athletes realize that they have let themselves down as well as the student health and performance team that is working tirelessly around the clock all summer and through today especially to care for them.”
Tyra did not give a breakdown of how many players tested positive in each sport, but did say that the men’s soccer program was “the leader in the clubhouse.”
Football team workouts and activities have not been suspended, though Tyra said multiple athletes outside of the four affected sports attended the party and were potentially exposed to the virus and are currently being quarantined. Tyra said: “I believe there’s no football to be found in the contact tracing as far as I recall, which is a good sign.”
Athletes from the four affected programs who have not tested positive or been identified through contact tracing could be allowed to resume workouts on campus Monday, Aug. 10, pending testing results.
When asked if the school might consider punishing players in the future for disobeying coronavirus-related safety protocols, such as restrictions of mass gatherings, Tyra replied, “I think the answer is ‘yes.’
“There’s code-of-conduct issues related to their teams and how their coaches handle them ... There’s certainly university code-of-conduct issues that we would reiterate to them. But if you’ve got repeat offenders who continue to ignore any team policies, we’ve always had the option of discipline, up to dismissal.”
Tyra also addressed concerns surrounding the college football season in light of recent issues related to COVID-19. Several players from the Pac-12 conference have recently threatened to skip the season, while the University of Connecticut — which is not affiliated with a conference in football — has canceled its football season altogether. Two Eastern Kentucky University football players have quit the team, citing concerns over the program’s handling of safety protocols related to the virus.
“It’s given us concerns all along. You can tell it’s a fragile situation if you don’t follow the protocols,” Tyra said. “With UConn, I think there’s different circumstances. I think they had trouble getting a schedule pulled together ... I think the Pac-12 issues ... I think there’s some interesting notes there, I think you can see where the students’ voice is in there, but unfortunately you can also see where there’s some third-party agenda in that. I’m sure in the end it’ll come out with a positive result.”
This story was originally published August 5, 2020 at 2:03 PM.
