CANTON - SUNY Canton has been cleared to safely resume intercollegiate sports this spring for baseball, basketball, golf, lacrosse, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.

State University of New York Chancellor Jim Malatras recently announced that Canton was one of six SUNY colleges across three more athletic conferences that have been cleared, said a press release. The approval will allow more than 1,400 students in the SUNY system to compete.

The following sports have been approved for resumption, including baseball and softball, as well as men’s and women’s basketball (fall sport for special spring season), golf, lacrosse, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.

With input from University Presidents, athletic department administrators, coaches, trainers, and student-athletes, SUNY established a series of overarching guiding safety principles for all colleges and universities seeking to resume intercollegiate athletics. All plans must include:

• Endorsement from the respective local health department.

• One-hundred percent weekly testing of all student-athletes.

• Student-athletes must be tested within three days of departure for road contest.

• Student-athletes, coaching staff members, medical staff, officials, and media members must be masked at all times, except athletes during active competition or practice.

• All schools must have COVID-19 symptom screening tools for home and visiting teams.

• If an individual has COVID-19 symptoms en route to the contest, the team must return to its home campus.

• If someone presents COVID-19 symptoms during a contest, that contest must be stopped immediately.

• No handshakes, group celebrations, or pre-game or post-game interaction with opposing teams.

• No eating on buses, and reduced bus capacity.

• No spectators.

“We are excited for our spring sports teams as the NAC moves forward with conference competition. Thank you Chancellor Malatras, for backing this important advancement,” SUNY Canton President Zvi Szafran said. “We will continue to remain cautious and everything we do will have the safety of our student-athletes, staff, campus, and greater community in mind. Through extensive plans that aim to keep everyone as safe as possible, we look forward to letting our student-athletes enjoy the sports they love and have worked so hard to play.”