Submitted photo Iowa Central won the NJCAA indoor men's national track and field title.

Iowa Central athletic director Kevin Twait got the call he was dreading on Monday.

The NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) announced at 1 p.m. that the remaining spring sports seasons across the country would be cancelled.

In a press release, the NJCAA stated:

The decision comes on the heels of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention making the recommendations to not hold events in the general public. This includes the remaining winter championships that had yet to be played, along with all spring events.

“In light of the progressive evolvement of the COVID-19 situation, the NJCAA has decided to end all competition for the remainder of the academic year,” stated Dr. Christopher Parker, NJCAA President & CEO, in an official statement. “As an association, the NJCAA exhausted all possible avenues to potentially postpone competition for both upcoming basketball championships and spring sport competition.

“We believe following the recommendations of the CDC is in the best interest of our member colleges and our student-athletes.”

Last Friday, the NJCAA suspended all spring sports until April 4. As the COVID-19 cases continue to stack up and the pandemic spread across the nation, the NJCAA was left with virtually no choice.

“All junior colleges have ceased competition for the spring seasons,” Twait said. “There is just so much uncertainty with the coronavirus.”

As the seasons came to an end, student-athletes for the spring and summer seasons were told they will have the option of competing next year without losing a year of eligibility.

“It will just be a non-participating year,” Twait said. “Student-athletes will have the opportunity to return if they chose to do so. There is just so much uncertainty with freshmen coming in, or athletes moving on to a four-year school.

“There are so many dynamics to this that will have to be ironed out.”

The press release continued: The NJCAA will explore the opportunity to expand allowable Letters of Intent for spring sports for both the 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years under the recommendation of the NJCAA Eligibility Committee.

Iowa Central has seven spring sports. Baseball, softball, and tennis were already under way. Rodeo, tennis, outdoor track and field, women’s golf and tennis hadn’t started yet.

Both the Triton baseball and softball teams were ranked 18th in the nation.

“On a selfish note, we have some pretty good teams,” Twait said. “The baseball and softball programs were off to a solid start and the track and field teams had a good group.

“Every other spring sport was getting ready to go with a lot of potential, too.”

Twait, the school’s former football coach, knows how much athletes put into their season, so losing a year of playing time is difficult to grasp.

“I feel badly for the athletes, but it does remind everybody of what is important,” Twait said. “There are bigger things to think about, and with this pandemic taking this world by storm…junior college athletics is a small picture.”