NCAA Board of Directors adopts student-athlete protections due to coronavirus

The NCAA announced a series of protections for its student-athletes as well as a plan to host scaled back fall championships in the spring. 

The NCAA Division I Board of Directors announced on Friday a series of protections for its student-athlete participants as well as a plan to host scaled back fall championships in the spring in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

In regards to the latter, acting board chair Denise Trauth, president of Texas State, offered the following in an official statement on Twitter.

“We want to provide opportunities for student-athletes wherever possible. We understand it will be complicated and different, and we’re not certain how it will look, but we believe it’s important to try to give students that championship experience.”

Under the “Eligibility” section, the NCAA statement provided this insight.

All fall sport student-athletes will receive both an additional year of eligibility and an additional year in which to complete it.

Student-athletes who do not enroll full-time during the 2020 fall term have flexibility in the progress-towards-degree requirements that must be met for eligibility in future terms.

Included in the official press release are the Council-recommended protections for college athletes, which are provided in the bullet points below.

  • Schools are prohibited from requiring student-athletes to waive legal rights regarding COVID-19 as a condition of athletics participation.
  • Schools are prohibited from canceling or reducing athletics scholarships if a college athlete in any sport opts not to participate due to COVID-19.
  • Student-athletes who do not enroll full time during the 2020 fall term have flexibility in the progress-toward-degree requirements that must be met for eligibility in future terms.
  • The financial aid of fall sport senior student-athletes who take advantage of the additional year of eligibility and extended clock will not count against team limits in 2021-22.
  • Schools are required to:
    • Review current insurance coverage for all student-athletes who are competing this fall.
    • Inform student-athletes about the risk classification of their sport as outlined in the Resocialization of Collegiate Sport document.
    • Inform student-athletes how the mandates in the Resocialization of Collegiate Sport document are being met at their campus.

The announced changes are effective immediately.

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