In our continuing series of interviews with Collegiate Head Coaches on the current state of the game and the effect of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Pandemic currently gripping our nation and world; We speak with MidAmerica Nazarene University Head Coach Rob Wade.
Coach Wade is in his fourth year at MNU after serving as head coach at Avila University and having success coaching at the Club Level. The Pioneers had an 8-3 record in 2020 before the cancellation of the season came.
RTS: The COVID-19 Pandemic has obviously been one of the most unique and disturbing times in our countries history. From the standpoint of Collegiate Athletics, it has been unprecedented in the fact of its impact on all sports including softball. Talk a little about how it has affected your program particularly. Where were you and your team when they found out the season had been canceled? How did you break the news that the 2020 season was over to your athletes and the immediate and aftereffect of announcement since?
Wade: The team had just returned from a road trip and was prepping for spring break when we were told by administration to put all games and practices on hold until March 30th. With this being a very fluid situation the dominos began to fall and I think we were expecting that we would get bad news. Unfortunately, in a very short order we were informed that the season was cancelled. We really work hard to keep our players informed so it wasn’t much of a surprise to them when the news came down. Our school was just a day away from starting Spring break so when the news came out that our University was closed for two weeks many of our out of state players returned home.
RTS: As a coach what are your opinions on how the NAIA has handled the outbreak and the remaining 2020 season?
Wade: I understand that this is very new and uncharted waters for everyone involved, I wasn’t surprised that they took as much time as they did to make sure they were making the correct informed decision.
RTS: How does the 2020 season affect what you will do in the future from an operational and progressive program standpoint since you are losing the season?
Wade: We are a very young team with NO seniors and only four juniors so the impact was not a great as other programs.
RTS: Both NCAA and NAIA have moved forward in granting a year of eligibility back to the student-athletes that lost the 2020 season. How does this affect your roster, recruiting, and scholarship management over the next year?
Wade: Time will only tell how that decision will impact our program. It’s nice to know that the players have options however to come back and get their full year.