NCAA Medical Hardship/Redshirt Question

[SoAZDad]

I just read Rubber Biscuit's 2014 thread on redshirt rules but there wasn't a lot of input on medical redshirts.

Question: If a DI SB player takes a medical redshirt, can she practice with the team during the year of her redshirt? Specifically, take BP and fielding drills?

Just curious. Thanks for any response.

 

[rdbass]

In United States college athletics, redshirt is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen his period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, a number derived from the four years of academic classes that are normally required to obtain a bachelor's degree at an American college or university. However, in a redshirt year, student athletes may attend classes at the college or university, practice with an athletic team, and dress for play but may not compete in games. Using this mechanism, a student athlete has up to five academic years to use the four years of eligibility, thus becoming a fifth-year senior.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshirt_(college_sports)

 

[djcarter1966]

It's technically a medical hardship waiver.

Below is from the Virginia Tech page I thought it was 30% but this says 20% as far as how much they played this season. The injury must be "INCAPACITATING" so I think it is assumed they would not be able to practice

Guidelines for Medical Hardship Waiver Requests
For a student-athlete to receive a Medical Hardship Waiver per Bylaw 14.2.4, the following four conditions must be met:

The student-athlete may not have participated in more than two contests or dates of competition or 20 percent of the team's completed contests/dates of competition.
The injury or illness must occur prior to the completion of the first half of the season.
The injury or illness does not have to occur during practice/competition, but it must be incapacitating.
Appropriate medical documentation must exist and be provided.

All percentages are calculated according to contests or dates of competition, depending on how your sport's competitive opportunities are counted. Only contests or dates of competition occurring during the championship (traditional) season are included in the calculations. Conference championships/tournaments are counted as one contest or date of competition, regardless of the actual contest/dates used.

If the percentage calculation for the 20-percent rule results in a decimal -- any decimal -- the whole number preceding it is always rounded up. For example, if the softball team competes in 56 games, 20 percent of 56 is 11.2. Due to the "rounding-up," a softball team member who competed in 12 games does qualify for a medical hardship waiver.

To meet the first-half-of-the-season requirement, all competition must cease prior to the start of the contest or date of competition that begins the second half of the season. For example, a soccer player competing in the 10th game of a 19-game season does not qualify for a medical hardship waiver. Also, a student-athlete who is injured in the first half of the season, then attempts to play in the second half and aggravates the original injury, does not qualify for a medical hardship waiver.

NOTE: A STUDENT-ATHLETE RECEIVING A MEDICAL HARDSHIP WAIVER IS PERMITTED UNLIMITED PARTICIPATION IN THE NON-TRADITIONAL (NON-CHAMPIONSHIP) PORTION OF THE SEASON.

 

[SoAZDad]

It's technically a medical hardship waiver.

Below is from the Virginia Tech page I thought it was 30% but this says 20% as far as how much they played this season. The injury must be "INCAPACITATING" so I think it is assumed they would not be able to practice

Guidelines for Medical Hardship Waiver Requests
For a student-athlete to receive a Medical Hardship Waiver per Bylaw 14.2.4, the following four conditions must be met:

The student-athlete may not have participated in more than two contests or dates of competition or 20 percent of the team's completed contests/dates of competition.
The injury or illness must occur prior to the completion of the first half of the season.
The injury or illness does not have to occur during practice/competition, but it must be incapacitating.
Appropriate medical documentation must exist and be provided.

All percentages are calculated according to contests or dates of competition, depending on how your sport's competitive opportunities are counted. Only contests or dates of competition occurring during the championship (traditional) season are included in the calculations. Conference championships/tournaments are counted as one contest or date of competition, regardless of the actual contest/dates used.

If the percentage calculation for the 20-percent rule results in a decimal -- any decimal -- the whole number preceding it is always rounded up. For example, if the softball team competes in 56 games, 20 percent of 56 is 11.2. Due to the "rounding-up," a softball team member who competed in 12 games does qualify for a medical hardship waiver.

To meet the first-half-of-the-season requirement, all competition must cease prior to the start of the contest or date of competition that begins the second half of the season. For example, a soccer player competing in the 10th game of a 19-game season does not qualify for a medical hardship waiver. Also, a student-athlete who is injured in the first half of the season, then attempts to play in the second half and aggravates the original injury, does not qualify for a medical hardship waiver.

NOTE: A STUDENT-ATHLETE RECEIVING A MEDICAL HARDSHIP WAIVER IS PERMITTED UNLIMITED PARTICIPATION IN THE NON-TRADITIONAL (NON-CHAMPIONSHIP) PORTION OF THE SEASON.

Thank you, that's good stuff.

 

[djcarter1966]

Thank you, that's good stuff.

I looked at a couple more spots and I think 30% of the season (not after halfway point) is the cutoff as always your number one stop should your DD ever be involved in any situation with questions like this is the school NCAA Compliance Officer and get your answer in writing once everything has been laid out.

 

[SoCal_Dad]

Like rdbass posted earlier, the answer depends on whether the athlete participated in a competition, including the fall for softball. If not, they haven't used a season of competition and are free to practice with the team.

If they have competed, the hardship waiver is to get a season of competition added (restored) after an injury/illness kept them from competing for most of the season. I don't see anything in the D-I manual about practicing, however I expect an athlete needs to be careful they don't bring their "incapacitation" into question.

 

[marriard]

I just read Rubber Biscuit's 2014 thread on redshirt rules but there wasn't a lot of input on medical redshirts.

Question: If a DI SB player takes a medical redshirt, can she practice with the team during the year of her redshirt? Specifically, take BP and fielding drills?

Just curious. Thanks for any response.

Every college has a NCAA Compliance Office or Officer and a student-athlete (and their coach) should always check with them for specific instruction on what can and can't be done. Also note that the rules are slightly different for D1/D2/D3/NAIA so this is another reason to rely on the people who are there to know or have the contacts at the NCAA/NAIA to get a specific answer.

Also note, sometimes it is worth taking an academic red shirt over a medical hardship if you have not competed in a year, though it does depend on whether the type of injury may be one that gets you a 'sixth year' if it happens again (not often).

 

[CoogansBluff]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but a player is not red-shirted until after the season. Just pointing that out for sake of definition. You often hear that a player is being red-shirted, but technically speaking, they are not red-shirts until the season is over. That is, they can play at any time. You'll see lots of true freshmen dressed out on the sidelines of football games who are 'being red-shirted,' but they are just as eligible to play as anybody else dressed out on the sidelines. Once they do play beyond a certain point in the season, however, they cannot be red-shirted.

 

[djcarter1966]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but a player is not red-shirted until after the season. Just pointing that out for sake of definition. You often hear that a player is being red-shirted, but technically speaking, they are not red-shirts until the season is over. That is, they can play at any time. You'll see lots of true freshmen dressed out on the sidelines of football games who are 'being red-shirted,' but they are just as eligible to play as anybody else dressed out on the sidelines. Once they do play beyond a certain point in the season, however, they cannot be red-shirted.

this is true and students and parents need make sure they 100% know the rules, there are horror stories out there about kids burning a full year of eligibility when they hardly played, coaches are usually pretty careful though because they don't want the reputation of being a "that" coach hurts recruiting too much

 

[SoCal_Dad]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but a player is not red-shirted until after the season. Just pointing that out for sake of definition. You often hear that a player is being red-shirted, but technically speaking, they are not red-shirts until the season is over. That is, they can play at any time. You'll see lots of true freshmen dressed out on the sidelines of football games who are 'being red-shirted,' but they are just as eligible to play as anybody else dressed out on the sidelines. Once they do play beyond a certain point in the season, however, they cannot be red-shirted.

Even though "redshirt" is often used broader than its actual meaning (i.e. not playing in any games, which preserves a season of competition), we should be precise with our terminology when discussing rules. When talking about getting an additional season of competition via a hardship waiver, at least say "medical redshirt."

"Academic Redshirt" is coming this August as a new type of initial eligibility that falls between Qualifier and Nonqualifier. They retain 4 seasons of competition after the first year, while Nonqualifiers have to complete 80% of their degree requirements in their first 4 years to get the 4th season.

Delayed effective date. See specific date below.
14.3.1.2 Academic Redshirt. An academic redshirt may receive institutional athletically related financial aid but may not compete during the first academic year in residence. An academic redshirt may practice only on campus or at the institution’s regular practice facility during the first regular academic term in residence. An academic redshirt must successfully complete nine semester or eight quarter hours of academic credit in each applicable regular academic term in order to be eligible for practice in the immediately subsequent term of the first academic year (see Bylaw 14.4.2.1). An academic redshirt is defined as one who is a high school graduate and who presented the same academic qualifications applicable to qualifiers (see Bylaw 14.3.1.1) except for the following: (Adopted: 10/27/11, Revised: 4/26/12 effective 8/1/16; for student-athletes initially enrolling full time in a collegiate institution on or after 8/1/16)
(a) The required minimum cumulative grade-point average and minimum combined score on the SAT critical reading and math sections or a minimum sum score on the ACT as specified in Bylaw 14.3.1.2.1;
(b) Bylaw 14.3.1.1-(c) shall not apply.