SANTA ANA, Calif. - After careful consideration and planning, Santa Ana College Athletics is "opting-out" of the Spring I sports season. The decision will affect all traditional Fall sports as well as basketball.

SAC joins the vast majority of colleges in the region in opting out, reversing the initial decision that came prior to the first deadline on December 18th, 2020. 

All Spring I sports (except football) will be permitted to compete in two (2) scrimmages at some point before the end of June 2021. Football will be allowed three (3) intrasquad scrimmages (no outside opponents) during that same period.

Currently, SAC is "opted-in" to the Spring 2 schedule (traditional Spring sports) which begins competition in April 2021. "We are optimistic that those sports will successfully compete in the 2021 season after being cancelled in 2020 due to Covid," said Athletics Director Mary Hegarty.

"In Spring 2020, the CCCAA Working Group adopted two main principles to determine how Athletics should proceed through the pandemic: safety and opportunity. The decision to opt out of Spring I now is consistent with those principles. This pause allows our Spring I student athletes, staff, faculty and their families to remain as safe as possible while providing the opportunity for our student athletes to compete later in the Spring when conditions are expected to improve."

Hegarty ended with saying, "We thank President Flores for her continued support of SAC Athletics and know this is the responsible decision – not only for SAC Athletics, but the Santa Ana community, which has been one of the hardest hit by the pandemic. We will work together to get through these challenging times and continue to keep our students, faculty, and staff as safe as possible until we are able to return to some sense of normalcy."