(from hokiesports.com) BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech Director of Athletics Whit Babcock announced on Tuesday that Tech Athletics is not planning to host a traditional spring football game in 2021. Following the local and state guidelines, and in consultation with campus officials, we determined that we would not be able to provide our traditional fan experience, and it would not be in the best interest of the Blacksburg and Virginia Tech communities to hold a spring game in 2021. Babcock and Tech officials are hopeful that state, local health department restrictions limiting capacities at outdoor sports venues in Virginia will be further eased to allow fans to return to Lane Stadium in greater capacities this fall.
“Regrettably, given the current restrictions in place and out of concern for the health and well-being of our community, our student-athletes and our fans, we have made the decision to not have a spring football game,” Babcock said. “We realize this is disappointing for many and certainly for our football team, but we believe that it is the proper decision for the Virginia Tech community and the town of Blacksburg. Additionally, we did not want to provide our fans with an experience which would be far less than they are accustomed to at Lane Stadium, including no tailgating. We certainly hope and expect this fall that they can enjoy our full gameday environment with Hokie Village, the Hokie Walk, the Marching Virginians, the Corps of Cadets, the VT Spirit Squads, tailgating and more.
“The final element of conducting a spring game that proved problematic was determining an equitable way to allocate the very limited amount of tickets we would have been permitted to issue,” Babcock concluded. “With the limit at 1,000, it would have been limited to guests of student-athletes and would not have provided an opportunity for many fans to come to Lane Stadium anyway. Even if the appropriate officials and agencies were to move to a increased attendance protocol in the near term, it’s just too soon to jump back into it. I wish we could and we will soon; when it’s appropriate. We will be offering our fans enhanced, behind-the-scenes features from spring football practices and our creative team will deliver exclusive interviews and other special features to our donors and fans throughout spring ball.”
