AUGUSTA, GA – The Peach Belt Conference Board of Directors has voted to institute a forfeiture policy for the 2021-22 season. Starting this fall, if a team cannot play a scheduled game due for COVID reasons, that game will not be rescheduled and the team will be given a forfeit loss. That loss will affect their record in the PBC conference standings and also affect tournament seeding; their opponent will be given a win.

“Given the complexities of our regular-season schedule and the timeframe in which we have to operate, there are simply no opportunities for the rescheduling of games on the scale of what we saw last spring,” said PBC commissioner David Brunk. “With the great support of the NCAA and their guidelines regarding COVID and the opportunity to vaccinate, we hope to avoid as many of these forfeitures as possible and have a full and complete season.”

The PBC has rescinded all COVID policies put into place last year regarding the minimum number of players available and minimum number of games necessary to compete for PBC championships. The league will return to NCAA-led rules and regulations regarding participation and minimum requirements for championships with the goal of conducting normal fall, winter and spring seasons.

The PBC forfeiture policy will only apply to league standings, conference seedings and conference tournament participation. The NCAA has a long-standing policy of not recognizing such forfeitures and deeming cancelled games ‘no contests.’ A PBC forfeiture will have no affect on selection for NCAA championships, player statistics or coaching records.