NC State says all athletic programs, including football, can resume practice Monday
Less than a week after shutting down all athletic practices and workouts, N.C. State announced on Saturday that the Wolfpack football team will resume activities on Monday.
Fred Demarest, senior AD for communications, confirmed Saturday morning that “all programs are now permitted to resume activities.”
The football team, 20 days away from its season opener, has not been on the practice field since a scrimmage last Saturday. Last Monday the university announced that all athletic-related activities were suspended due to a coronavirus cluster within its sports programs.
That same day the school reported 27 cases within its athletic department (not all were athletes). On Friday, Athletic Director Boo Corrigan announced that 12 of N.C. State’s athletic programs were allowed to return to practice and workouts. The football team was not one of those programs.
Corrigan also announced that the football program would be tested again. Members of the football program — coaches, players, staff — were being tested twice a week as recently as last week, according to Demarest.
The ACC released enhancements to testing protocols on Friday, including increased testing and additional cardiac evaluation standards.
The ACC’s Medical Advisory Group (MAG) now calls for all team members in football, field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball to be tested three times a week beginning with the first week of competition. For football, a test must be administered the day before a game and again 48 hours after a game. The ACC office will select a third party to administer the test the day before a game.
The MAG also said that every athlete who did have a positive COVID-19 test should undergo a cardiac evaluation before they are allowed to return to practice.
The football team will open the season on Sept. 19 at home against Wake Forest. Due to a coronavirus cluster within the Wolfpack athletic program, N.C. State’s season-opening game against Virginia Tech was postponed. The game, scheduled for Sept. 12, has moved to Sept. 26.
This story was originally published August 29, 2020 at 1:03 PM with the headline "NC State says all athletic programs, including football, can resume practice Monday."
