FAYETTEVILLE — Athletes at the University of Arkansas will be able to begin working out on campus on a voluntary basis June 8.
SEC presidents and chancellors approved the date during a vote Friday. The workouts will not include any team practices and will be conducted under “strict supervision,” according to the SEC, and under guidelines adopted by each university.
At the UA, those guidelines have been developed through discussions with Arkansas Department of Health, the university’s environmental health department and doctors at UAMS in Little Rock, UA athletics director Hunter Yurachek told university trustees Wednesday. Yurachek told trustees that only returning athletes in the sports of football, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, soccer and men’s and women’s cross country will be brought back to campus initially.
Yurachek said freshmen in those sports will not be brought to campus until at least July 1 because residence halls are closed.
In addition to UA guidelines, the SEC has recommended education of coaches and athletes about preventing the spread of covid-19, a three-stage screening process for athletes upon their return to campus, testing of athletes that show coronavirus symptoms and immediate isolation and contact tracing for those athletes who test positive.
Athletes have been barred from working out on campus since March 13 when the SEC suspended all activities due to the nationwide coronavirus outbreak. The SEC is preparing to resume competition in fall sports on time later this year.