According to a report from USA TODAY Sports, players will allowed to wear patches for the upcoming season supporting social justice. The NCAA released a statement earlier on Thursday about the patches that will be placed on the jerseys in the 2020 season.
These patches could be to support social justice causes or to memorialize a person or event. Patches were already allowed in some sports — for instance, all college football teams wore a patch commemorating the 150th anniversary of the sport in 2019 — but the rules expanded to allow patches both on the front and back of uniforms and to allow patches in sports where they were not previously permitted.
Patches on the front or sleeve must be no bigger than 2 1/4 square inches. Patches on the back can be placed where the name traditionally goes and can contain names or words. Such patches must be approved by the school or conference.
The entire Notre Dame athletic department has been very vocal about social injustices in recent months as the football team’s Juneteenth march and Muffet McGraw’s regular food drives are just a couple examples of players and coaches doing good in the community.