ETSU’s incoming slate of athletic competition is facing uncharted territory, but ETSU Athletics Director Scott Carter is hopeful that despite COVID-19 concerns, the Bucs’ various athletic teams will be able to safely compete in the spring.

Scott Carter (Contributed / ETSU Bucs)

Carter, who earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from ETSU, spoke of the uniqueness of the incoming spring season for all of ETSU’s competing NCAA teams.

“It’ll be a unique year, no question,” said Carter. “It’ll present challenges, it’ll present opportunities, and I’m just thankful that our young people that work so hard throughout the entire year looking for the opportunity to compete are going to have that opportunity.”

With constant postponements and delays taking place in the current college sports atmosphere, Carter warned the occasional postponed athletic event in the spring may be inevitable.

“We may very well have scheduled games that, unfortunately due to COVID-19 situations, we may deal with,” said Carter, of potential game postponements. “They’re going to happen. Everyone’s just going to have to be patient. They’re going to have to be agile, cooperative and work together with one another.”

On Nov. 10, it was announced via email that the Bucs’ men’s and women’s basketball teams would allow in fans at 10% capacity for the spring season, a policy that Carter endorses.

“I know the decision was certainly made with the mindset of maximizing health and safety, but trying to make sure we do have some kind of connection [with] our fans to be in our venues to support the teams,” said Carter.

A former team captain and standout for the Bucs’ football team, Carter expressed excitement for ETSU football with their unprecedented spring regular season on the horizon.

“I think it’ll be fun,” said Carter. “We’re going to try our best to have fun with it and to take each day as a blessing and an opportunity to compete, to get better, to grow and mature.”

“I know there’s a lot of discussion in the news about a vaccine and hopefully the conclusion of this pandemic at some point in time,” Carter continued. “We certainly want to be prepared for the good news that hopefully will be out there. In the meantime, we are making sure we can do everything we can to keep our student-athletes, our coaches, our fans, everybody involved as safe as possible.”