STEUBENVILLE – Another sports program has fallen victim to the coronavirus pandemic.

Eastern Gateway Community College officials announced Friday that the continuing COVID-19 restrictions have forced the school to cancel its fall sports season.

The school’s board of trustees also announced it will discontinue its collegiate sports program in favor of a club-based sports program for the coming school year. EGCC leaders notified the National Junior College Athletic Association about the changes on Thursday.

“The transition to a club-based athletic program will provide more students with an opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities, as well as make our sports programs more tailored to each campus,” said Michael Geoghegan, EGCC’s interim president. “We are particularly excited to introduce esports to Eastern Gateway Community College as a way to get our online students involved.”

Eastern Gateway joined the NJCAA three years ago and has since fielded a men’s baseball team, with the intention to launch a women’s volleyball team this fall.

School officials said they will work with the 24 student-athletes to release each to explore options to play at another college or university. The college will hire coordinators for each physical campus, in Steubenville and in Youngstown, to coordinate club sports.

“We’ve heard from students that they were interested in having more campus-based activities, and we will engage the students on campus and online to determine what types of club sports we will create,” said Geoghegan.