St. John’s University Opts Out Of Spring Football Season

There will be no football games in Collegeville this spring after all. The St. John's University football program has decided not to go through with a spring schedule of games and instead will hold practices leading up to a traditional spring game.

"This was not an easy decision," coach Gary Fasching told the official SJU website. "We have seniors on this team who are planning to graduate and won't be coming back next fall. We know what we do this spring is it for them, and we're heartbroken about that."

Coach Fasching added the number of football players who also play spring sports, along with the uncertainty surrounding the continuing pandemic, led to the decision to wait until the fall.

The Johnnies saw their 2020 fall season postponed to the spring when they would have been able to play in up to four competitions- including games, scrimmages and exhibitions- between March 5th and May 15th.

SJU is hoping to play an intra-squad scrimmage in early May with attendance likely limited to family members and guests of players.

The NCAA allows for 114 practices during the course of this school year and according to the Johnnies' website the team has used only 35 of those allowed organized team activities.

The Johnnies' last season of 2019 was a good one. SJU finished the year 12-2 and advanced to the national semifinals for the first time 2003.

With the cancellation of the spring games, the Johnnies' first game will have to wait until September 4th when they host Aurora in Collegeville. The full 2021 schedule can be found HERE.

With St. Thomas no longer a member of the MIAC, the conference will now feature two divisions and a "championship" game between the two division winners that determines the MIAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.