North Atlantic Conference Issues Fall Sports Protocols

Wednesday the North Atlantic Conference released their policies and protocols for sports this fall.
• The NAC is offering regular and postseasons in 7 sports (Soccer {M&W}, Cross Country {M&W}, Men’s Golf, Women’s Tennis, Women’s Volleyball) as long as the health and safety guidelines allow for it locally, regionally, and nationally
• The NAC administration is allowing spectator policies to be determined by each individual institution within the conference
• They are also allowing each school to make their own policies regarding vaccination policies for athletes, coaches, administrators and staff
• The Conference did issue guidelines for how games will be played and what testing or precautions will be in place
o Athletes, Coaches or anyone in close contact with the team who are fully vaccinated are NOT required to go through regular testing, and will not need to wear a mask unless they exhibit symptoms
o Anyone not fully vaccinated will be tested regularly and will be required to wear a mask during play in conference games.
• According to the press release from the conference yesterday All NAC campuses require students to be vaccinated, but some deadlines and exceptions vary
• If schools have different policies and protocols and they can’t reach an agreement the conference is requiring the games or matches to be played at the most restrictive level regardless of where the contest is played
• All of the protocols issued by the NAC are considered the baseline expectations, and conference members can exceed the conference guidelines with more restrictions at their discretion
• Husson, Thomas, UMPI, UMF, MMA are Maine schools in NAC sports