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The US Air Force Academy water polo team will be back on the road after its travel agenda was allowed to resume.
Melissa McKeown, Assistant Media Relations Director, wrote in an email that, “[a]s of today, travel for all of our intercollegiate teams has been reinstated…”
An Academy press release elaborated on the issue of public funding, stating “[t]he Academy is awaiting written final Department of Defense guidance, however, we have been advised that all Air Force Academy intercollegiate athletics may resume immediately.”
The Falcons will not participate in the UC Irvine Invitational this weekend. Irvine was forced to drop Air Force from the schedule during the Academy’s athletic hiatus forced by the recent shutdown of the federal government. Nearby Concordia has taken Air Force’s place in the competition.
Both Head Coach Jeff Heidmous and assistant Ryan Brown were furloughed during the hiatus. Two recent graduates, still located at the Academy while awaiting pilot training, led water polo practices in the coaches’ absence according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
Naval Academy athletic officials have not yet responded with information on their water polo squad’s status.
The Falcons are next scheduled to meet WWPA conference rivals UC San Diego in La Jolla on October 25.
