BOWLING GREEN — Among no-contact outdoor sports, there is optimism some type of fall season can take place, though moving the schedule ahead would face a litany of complex variables.

Last week, Bowling Green State University director of athletics Bob Moosbrugger said he believed there could be some fall sports during the pandemic, and pointed to low-risk sports like golf and tennis playing and possibly even moving their seasons ahead.

While golf has seen minor changes — such as no tending the flagstick, no bunker rakes, and skipping handshakes on the 18th green — the game already featured plenty of space and minimal interaction between competitors.

"I think we've all seen that golf has been able to go on from a junior, amatuer, and professional standpoint, and come out pretty healthy on all ends," BGSU men's golf coach John Powers said. "It's proving itself to be one of the safer things you can do during this time, so we're optimistic about our chances of maintaining our health and competitive schedule, and being able to travel appropriately to maintain our bubbles."

Tennis will require a bit more effort to resume play. Falcons tennis coach Stephanie Dalmacio said her first order of business is to safely reassemble the team — composed almost entirely of international students — then go step-by-step during the return.

Players are scheduled to return to campus early next month, at which point the tennis team plans to continue holding meetings remotely as it attempts to begin training again.

"The first thing for me is bringing everyone into campus and making sure everyone is here, then having a little bit of routine because we haven't had a routine with practices since March," Dalmacio said. "Then we're going to start with singles, see how that goes, and if things get better — and hopefully they do get better — then we'll think about doubles."

Moving seasons, however, would face a much greater set of obstacles.

Both tennis and golf typically have competition in the fall, but conference and NCAA championships in the spring.

Two major conferences, the Big Ten and Pac-12, have committed to only conference play during the fall, while other conferences at multiple levels have said they will not play sports at all until the spring semester.

Powers said he thought changes possibly could take place regionally or by conference, but shifting an entire season from a national perspective would be a major challenge as conferences make individual decisions and face short timeframes to secure courses for schedule changes.

"Honestly, I think on a national stage, the logistics of it just wouldn't work out, unfortunately," Powers said. "I think they could probably sort that out because there are at least two fewer days involved with [Mid-American Conference championships], but what would end up happening is some conferences would be able to do it, and some wouldn't be able to pull it off. I don't know if, nationally, they'd be able to pull it off with this short notice."

Dalmacio pointed to geography as being one of BGSU's natural advantages. The Falcons' proximity to a number of other Division I tennis teams allows for options in scheduling, but Dalmacio said she would want as much time as possible if there are sweeping changes to the traditional season.

"If they're going about that and they want us to do that, that needs to be the decision that's made as soon as possible, because, just as far as scheduling goes, it's not going to be very easy for everyone to change around," Dalmacio said. "It's definitely do-able, but we're going to need a little bit of time to go about doing that and deciding how we're going to do that."

Outdoor sports have been a popular recreational activity during the pandemic, and BGSU's athletics department remains confident its teams can forge ahead in a few weeks.

Powers said Bowling Green will keep several groups within the team for travel purposes, but that he still thinks golf can continue with a season.

"Golf has had a great year as a result of that because people are dying to get outside and do something," Powers said. "And golf is a good, safe way to do it."

First Published July 21, 2020, 6:24 p.m.