UMD’s Josh Berlo Talks Possibility of No Fans at Games, Shortened Hockey Season

Berlo says that the athletic department hopes to know in the next month what the fall season will look like.

DULUTH, Minn. – With the coronavirus pandemic officially wiping out whatever was left of spring sports and several summer events being effected, the conversation now becomes will we have sports to watch in the fall, specifically at UMD.

The football team has already started preparing for their upcoming season, but across the nation, teams are thinking about the possibility of playing games in front of limited or no fans. UMD athletic director Josh Berlo says it’s a real thing.

“I think we owe it to our various communities, our institutions and our students to really evaluate all of the options. First and foremost in seeing what the fall is going to look like for our campus and if we have students in a more traditional sense. I don’t think it will be a completely traditional sense. But do we have a more traditional sense going on and athletics is an extension of that,” said Berlo.

Looking ahead even more, the NCHC has begun to discuss a shortened or modified men’s hockey season, a discussion Berlo says is important to have now to be able to plan for all possibilities.

“Thousands of people at our sporting venues cheering on the Bulldogs is our ultimate goal. It might take a little bit of time to get there, but the sooner we can get started on something that resembles that, the better. Of course, all while maintaining people’s health and safety. That’s just the number one guiding principle through all this,” Berlo said.

Berlo adds that the athletic department hopes to know in the next month what the fall season will look like.