NCAA Approves 2 Recommendations on Student-Athlete Reinstatement

It looks like Division III college sports is getting a shot in the arm to help student athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yesterday, the Division III Administrative Committee of the NCAA approved two recommendations on Student-Athlete Reinstatement, originally proposed by the Empire 8.

According to a press release, the first recommendation provides a blanket waiver for student-athletes in all sports whose team is unable to complete 50% or less than that sports maximum contests for the season, allowing student-athletes to retain that year of eligibility. The second recommendation is a blanket waiver to automatically extend a student-athletes 10 semester/15 quarter eligibility clock if their team cannot meet the 50% threshold which used to be at 70%.

According to the Committee, Student-athletes whose teams complete more than 50% of the sport’s maximum contests/dates of competition during the 2020-21 season would not be eligible for the blanket waiver, regardless of whether the student-athlete competed in 50% or less of the season. However, individual waiver requests could be pursued on a case-by case basis. By approving a two-semester/three-quarter extension, schools no longer would need to file an additional extension of eligibility waiver if a student-athlete seeks to maintain full-time enrollment.

Both blanket waivers will apply to all sports during the 2020-21 academic year on a one-time basis due to the impact of COVID-19.

To get all the latest information on NCAA Division III sports visit www.ncaa.org/d3.