(Valhalla, NY) - 459 days ago today, the Westchester Community College Baseball team completed their 2020 Spring Break trip to Lakeland, Florida with a 10-6 loss to Mid Michigan College. The Vikings returned home with a promising 10-4 record, and were ranked #20 in the nation. Little did they - or we - know at the time that the conclusion to their early season trip would be the final time that they - or any other Viking team - would compete for the rest of 2020, and much of 2021, as the COVID-19 Pandemic brought Viking Athletics to a halt. 

Nearly 15 months to the day, Westchester CC Director of Athletics Michael Belfiore has announced that the Vikings will return to play for the Fall 2021 semester. Tryouts will begin in August, and Westchester CC Athletics will compete for a full slate of Mid-Hudson Conference and NJCAA Region XV games when the Fall season begins.

"We've been waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting to make this announcement, but I am thrilled to finally declare that the Westchester Community College Vikings are back. It's been a long time coming, but I am beyond excited that our teams will return to play at the end of the summer. There are a lot of details to be worked out, but we are already working to make sure our student-athletes and teams are ready to go the moment tryouts begin." Belfiore said.

Beginning on a date to be announced in August, Westchester CC will begin tryouts for Soccer, Volleyball, and Baseball. From there, Westchester will conduct its athletics calendar as it would have during a typical year. During the Fall semester, Soccer and Volleyball will begin competition for the 2021 season in September, and Winter Sports tryouts will begin in October. Spring Sports will also have the opportunity to participate in Fall semester practices and competition in accordance with NJCAA rules, as they did prior to the pandemic.

Belfiore said that the goal is to continue the momentum the athletic program built before the pandemic shut things down last March, thanks to the efforts undertaken by current Viking staff and students.

"We were in the midst of what could have been a historically strong year when COVID hit, and I thought the spring 2020 semester had the prospects for something special for all of our sports, so we were forced to shut things down at a time when a lot of hard work put our teams in an amazing position for success. During the last 15 months our staff and coaches have worked tirelessly to make sure that when we came back, we would be ready to compete again. Through a terrific recruiting effort, a successful academic support program for the better part of three semesters, and a lot of good planning on our part, I think our student-athletes and campus community have a lot to look forward to during the upcoming year." Belfiore said.

Ultimately, Belfiore added that seeing Viking teams in action will be the most encouraging of signs that normalcy is quickly coming back.

"When the pandemic began, I don't think anybody ever imagined that we would be without sports for more than a year and a half. Today is a very exciting day. We have a lot of work to do between now and our first games of the season, but I think I speak on behalf of our entire department when I say that whenever that first game is, we cannot wait to play. We're going to appreciate and enjoy our upcoming seasons with a whole new perspective." Belfiore said.