Ivy-League-cancels-sports

Like many students, first-year Alexa Schlotter hoped to join a club sport when she got to campus. Schlotter has played soccer since she was three years old, pursuing the game throughout high school. Despite not wanting the stress and time commitment of playing varsity soccer, Schlotter still hoped to participate in the sport at the club level.

Whether you’re an incoming first-year, transfer, or a returning student, everyone wants to know the secret to finding your community on campus. Hint: It’s by joining clubs and finding peers who share your interests. Besides providing a great environment to de-stress, clubs are where you can be yourself. Here are some tips we’ve compiled for you based on clubs you may be interested in.

Just one day after Columbia and Barnard announced that only first-years and sophomores will be invited back to campus for the fall semester, the Ivy League declared Wednesday afternoon that all athletics will be postponed until at least January. All sports will be prohibited from participating in competitions, while practices will be permitted if protections are in place to ensure they are in accordance with each institution’s and state’s policies.

The Ivy League is considering multiple schedules for football’s return as schools across the country attempt to put together opening plans for the fall semester. As the number of COVID-19 cases rises across the United States, the conference may potentially delay intercollegiate football games until April 2021, and practices may not start until March.

During the 2010s, Columbia Athletics was able to clinch 33 Ivy League championships and 11 national team titles. Under two athletic directors—M. Dianne Murphy, who served between 2004 and 2015, and current Athletic Director Peter Pilling—Columbia Athletics began toto transform, developing nationally-recognized programs such as fencing, men’s tennis, and cross country. Such teams have routinely found themselves among the top 25 in the nation.

As the world grapples with the wide-reaching effects of the coronavirus, sports, for the moment, have been effectively canceled.

The 2010s was a breakthrough decade for Columbia track and field. The decade saw improvements initiated to the program in the 1990s finally come to fruition, as the men’s and women’s team finished consistently better in the Ivy League than ever before.

It was a decade of many firsts for the Columbia women’s tennis program. Led by head coach and former Lion Ilene Weintraub, CC ’02, the Light Blue notched its first-ever winning Ivy League season, claimed its first Ancient Eight title, won ECACs four times, and earned its highest ranking in program history.