In an announcement made prior to the first championships of the 2020-21 academic year, the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) adjusted its current fan policy as it relates to attendance at indoor athletic events on its member institutional campuses following a vote of the Council of Presidents.
 
The Council of Presidents unanimously agreed that attendance of spectators at HCAC indoor competitions will be left to the discretion of each host institution; however, each institution will honor any visiting institution’s stated desire to compete in an arena with limited or no spectators.
 
“Now that we have safely begun conducting athletic competitions, we wanted to reduce our restrictions on spectator allowances,” noted HCAC Commissioner Jay Jones. 

“To accomplish that, we worked to craft a policy where the host school sets the core allowances, but the visiting school is able to further restrict those allowances based on their own campus regulations.  

"We cannot forget that intercollegiate sports, unlike high school or professional sports, features the added challenge of a visiting team returning to residential life on their own campus.  

"I appreciate our presidents working constructively together to allow limited spectators but also continue focusing on the safety needs of our student-athletes and the general student populations of each of their respective campuses.”
 
The league’s attendance policy will continually be reviewed throughout the remainder of the spring semester, and should any updates to the policy occur, those will be posted on the conference website.
 
Due to building capacity limitations, the HCAC will not be able to allow spectator attendance at the conference Indoor Track and Field Championships nor at the HCAC Swimming and Diving Championships.  Spectator attendance at other HCAC Championship events will be determined based on the institutional spectator limitations at each host school.
 
For more information on all things HCAC, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the HCAC's home on the internet at www.heartlandconf.org. Be sure to stay up to date on all of your Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference news by following @HCACDIII on Twitter and by liking the "HCAC DIII" Facebook page.