See the link below. From the article:
“For Alcorn State’s football program, traditionally one of the best among the Historically Black Colleges and Universities that play in the Southwest Athletic Conference, this weekend’s game at South Alabama is a significant financial deal.
As one of the lowest-resourced programs in the Football Championship Subdivision, with an athletics department budget in the $6 million range, a $360,000 paycheck to play one game represents a large chunk of their revenue for the year.
But it is unclear whether the team will make the trip to South Alabama because it has not been able to practice Monday or Tuesday as it failed to have an athletic trainer available to treat players for injuries, head coach Fred McNair said in a radio interview Monday and four people with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.
The question now is whether Alcorn State will play an FBS team without a normal week or practice and with what kind of medical supervision.”
And,
“Though Alcorn State coaches were still hoping to play the game, the situation has echoes of Grambling State’s 2013 player boycott over the conditions of their facilities and other issues related to the administration’s funding of the program, causing the school to forfeit a game against Jackson State.
While most of the FCS played the 2020 football season in the spring of 2021, Alcorn State opted out entirely. At the time, it was framed as a decision attributed to COVID-19 concerns.
But the people with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports that the team’s upperclassmen chose not to play because the school had not hired a full-time strength coach or an athletic trainer during the pandemic and thus did not feel prepared to compete.”
Continue reading. It’s a mess.
“For Alcorn State’s football program, traditionally one of the best among the Historically Black Colleges and Universities that play in the Southwest Athletic Conference, this weekend’s game at South Alabama is a significant financial deal.
As one of the lowest-resourced programs in the Football Championship Subdivision, with an athletics department budget in the $6 million range, a $360,000 paycheck to play one game represents a large chunk of their revenue for the year.
But it is unclear whether the team will make the trip to South Alabama because it has not been able to practice Monday or Tuesday as it failed to have an athletic trainer available to treat players for injuries, head coach Fred McNair said in a radio interview Monday and four people with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.
The question now is whether Alcorn State will play an FBS team without a normal week or practice and with what kind of medical supervision.”
And,
“Though Alcorn State coaches were still hoping to play the game, the situation has echoes of Grambling State’s 2013 player boycott over the conditions of their facilities and other issues related to the administration’s funding of the program, causing the school to forfeit a game against Jackson State.
While most of the FCS played the 2020 football season in the spring of 2021, Alcorn State opted out entirely. At the time, it was framed as a decision attributed to COVID-19 concerns.
But the people with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports that the team’s upperclassmen chose not to play because the school had not hired a full-time strength coach or an athletic trainer during the pandemic and thus did not feel prepared to compete.”
Alcorn State's Saturday game in doubt because it doesn't have an athletic trainer
Alcorn State has been unable to practice this week after its athletic trainer left the team, putting Saturday's game vs. South Alabama in peril.
www.usatoday.com
Continue reading. It’s a mess.
