Letter From The AD: August 2020 Edition

Dear Bobcats,

I hope this letter finds you and your family healthy and safe. I want to take this time to update you and thank you for your continued and unconditional support of our student-athletes, coaches and staff during this difficult time. Believe me, your support is heard and felt through the walls of the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse daily.

As you know, the Big Sky Conference announced the postponement of the 2020 fall football season to the spring of 2021. Montana State University and Bobcat Athletics continue to be committed to the safety and well-being of student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans. This was at the forefront of the Big Sky Conference's decision and we support it.

Another major factor for the Big Sky decision was the NCAA announcement of the return-to-sport requirements for collegiate athletic departments and conferences. These requirements were established for the safety of everyone involved in college athletics and in total are unattainable for many universities and athletic departments. I am confident MSU will be able to meet the NCAA testing requirements with the recent announcements of the surveillance testing collaboration between MSU and the state of Montanaand the $20 million COVID-19 support from Governor Bullock to the Montana University System. However, other requirements such as maintaining a minimum of 50% eligible teams in the division, questions surrounding costs associated with COVD-19 related medical expenses and local and state health recommendations, among others, made it virtually impossible to continue the conference season this fall.

This is not a position anyone wanted to be in. Ensuring the health and safety of everyone at MSU is paramount, and that includes making sure our opponents are following the same requirements. It became clear that adhering to these requirements was going to be difficult for most of the Big Sky Conference and Football Championship Subdivision institutions and that left us with little to no opportunities or alternatives for the fall football season.

This is difficult for everyone and I ask you take the time to view a message from Coach Choate and members of the Bobcat Football team on how they are handling the situation. I am proud of our entire department, especially the student-athletes, coaches and staff directly affected by these decisions. We are and will continue to support our great student-athletes and programs as they continue their academic and athletic year on campus.

We truly appreciate your patience, understanding and continued support as we navigate the complicated scenarios around supporting our athletic programs during this time. We understand that each of our fans are affected by the pandemic differently. If your financial situation allows, please consider contributing to our Bobcat Club Annual Scholarship Fund in support of our student-athletes – it's important now more than ever. We ask you to continue to 'Back the Cats' during this time of uncertainty.

We are working to reschedule games with all our 2020 non-conference football opponents (Long Island, Utah and Dixie State). For clarification, we are not planning to play any fall football games in 2020. Information will be shared when agreements on new dates are reached.

At this time, all other fall sports are scheduled begin with a delayed start to all competitions, however, these discussions continue with our local health officials and Big Sky Conference institutions. For the latest information, please visit our fall sports FAQs.

In some good news, construction of the Bobcat Athletic Complex is making progress and I invite all of you to watch with our live webcam. You can also view our entire Athletic Masterplan for details on the project. We thank all of you, our fans, alumni, donors and partners who helped make this dream a reality.

We recently announced an enhanced partnership with Bozeman Health to provide clinic space within the new Bobcat Athletic Complex to serve Bobcat student-athletes and MSU faculty, staff and their families. This partnership builds upon the existing agreement for Bozeman Health to serve as the official team physicians for Bobcat Athletics, provide the capstone funding to complete the project, and name the new academic center in the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse. We are fortunate for our longstanding relationship with Bozeman Health and thankful for their vision and partnership as we continue to move forward together.

Former Bobcat Basketball star Harald Frey signed a professional contract in Spain. Congratulations to Harald and best wishes on a successful professional career.

'Move-in Week' started this week as we prepare for the fall semester at Montana State University. We are excited to get the semester started safely. For the latest MSU campus news and updates on the COVID-19 pandemic, visit the online campus resource here.

As always, and especially during this time, we thank you for your continued commitment and support to not only Bobcat Athletics, but Montana State University, our community and our state. We all want nothing more than to return to a state for normalcy and we are committed to doing our part to make that happen. Please join us in this effort to stay healthy and safe.

In Bobcat Spirit,

Leon Costello

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Letter From The AD: August 2020 Edition

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