Coronavirus: California Community College cancels basketball championships

It's championship weekend for California Community College basketball teams, but in response to coronavirus concerns, no one's playing - something teams set to play thursday learned just an hour and a half before tip off.

"They were heartbroken, tears. My heart bleeds for these students, these athletes," said West Hills Community College President Dr. Kristin Clark.

16 teams including Fresno City College and the College of Sequoias were set to compete in the arena at West Hills Community College, Lemoore, from Thursday through Sunday.

The culmination of their season's hard work on the court is now canceled, a decision that, according to interim executive director Jennifer Cardone, wasn't taken lightly.

"We know how much work the kids and the coaches student athletes have put into the season," said Cardone. "We were hopeful we could at least get the games in without spectators, without the media in the building, but everything's just escalated."

But Dr. Kristin Clark says the impacts of canceling championship weekend aren't limited to the student athletes.

"We were also looking forward to driving some of the local economy in Lemoore and surrounding areas because we had people coming to restaurants, hotels," she said.

Since the announcement was made just a few hours ago, officials say at this point they haven't discussed a plan to reschedule championship weekend.