Nebraska Wesleyan and the other eight American Rivers Conference football teams from Iowa stand alone among the NCAA Division III conferences.
The ARC is the only Division III conference in the nation going ahead with fall sports, reaffirming that commitment July 28 and sticking with it as the last few remaining D-III conferences pulled the plug on their fall sports in the past few days because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“It looks like we’re the last one standing,†said NWU football coach Brian Keller, whose Prairie Wolves report for fall camp Aug. 12 and begin practice a day later in preparation for a conference-only schedule that’s still being determined.
NWU’s training facilities opened for their athletes on July 6.
“Let’s see what we can do now to give our kids whatever opportunities we can, and then adjust if we have to,†Keller added. “We’re getting together as a (coaching) staff every day planning what our preseason camp is going to look like.â€
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Although the schedules still haven’t been finalized, it appears NWU will be playing five of the eight conference foes in football instead of the normal round-robin format. The volleyball and men’s and women’s soccer teams will likely play a single round-robin.
“It’s been tough on the (conference) presidents; I certainly wouldn’t want to be in their shoes making these decisions,†Keller said. “Right now, we’re hoping for five games, but it could be four, three or none.â€
Reach the writer at 402-473-7437 or rpowell@journalstar.com. On Twitter @ronpowell_ljs.
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