Tag: spring sports

NCAA Actually Did the Right Thing Yesterday

The NCAA made a ruling on spring sport student-athletes, granting them an option for an extra year of eligibility.

It was a decision that took all day, but the NCAA announced yesterday that spring-sport student athletes will get an extra season of eligibility. Typically, the NCAA council favors monetary decisions, putting the student-athletes interest on the back burner, but this was the most logical decision.

This impacts every school in Division I, as many of them have a budget for scholarships, and with that in mind the universities will be able to use the NCAA’s Student Assistance Fund to help offset the costs of the scholarships. Financial aid rules will be adjusted to help with the increased scholarship numbers.

The extra year will be a nice boon to student-athletes who would have completed their eligibility this spring, but it is a school to school decision on how much assistance they will be given. This only applies to athletes who would have been true seniors or fifth-year seniors.

There was a small change for baseball teams, as their rosters will be increased, the only sport to allow a roster change. It is at the athlete’s discretion if they want to move forward and take advantage of this eligibility extension, surely athletes across the country will take to social media to let their intentions be known.

The NCAA has made plenty of odd rulings over their history, and with COVID-19, the precedence for this wasn’t there. Unfortunately, winter sport athletes are not included in this decision and it does look gloom for extra eligibility for the athletes who participated in those sports. Although it did take some time, the NCAA made the right decision in allowing spring-sport student-athletes an opportunity to finish out their careers.

NCAA will extend eligibility for seniors affected by the coronavirus

The NCAA voted to allow schools to provide spring-sport student-athletes an additional season of competition and an extension of eligibility

On Monday, big news came as the NCAA voted to allow schools to provide spring-sport student-athletes an additional season of competition and an extension of their period of eligibility due to the impact of spring sports because of the coronavirus.

This news came after the NCAA suspended all spring sports, including championship games, earlier this month.

This is what the NCAA had to say regarding this decision:

Members also adjusted financial aid rules to allow teams to carry more members on scholarship to account for incoming recruits and student-athletes who had been in their last year of eligibility who decide to stay. In a nod to the financial uncertainty faced by higher education, the Council vote also provided schools with the flexibility to give students the opportunity to return for 2020-21 without requiring that athletics aid be provided at the same level awarded for 2019-20. This flexibility applies only to student-athletes who would have exhausted eligibility in 2019-20.

Schools also will have the ability to use the NCAA’s Student Assistance Fund to pay for scholarships for students who take advantage of the additional eligibility flexibility in 2020-21.

Division I rules limit student-athletes to four seasons of competition in a five-year period. The Council’s decision allows schools to self-apply waivers to restore one of those seasons of competition for student-athletes who had competed while eligible in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 spring season

The Council also will allow schools to self-apply a one-year extension of eligibility for spring-sport student-athletes, effectively extending each student’s five-year “clock” by a year. This decision was especially important for student-athletes who had reached the end of their five-year clock in 2020 and saw their seasons end abruptly.

“The Council’s decision gives individual schools the flexibility to make decisions at a campus level,” said Council chair M. Grace Calhoun, athletics director at Penn. “The Board of Governors encouraged conferences and schools to take action in the best interest of student-athletes and their communities, and now schools have the opportunity to do that.”

The Council also increased the roster limit in baseball for student-athletes impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the only spring sport with such a limit.”

It’s also important to note that winter sports were not included in the decision.

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