NCAA Grants Extra Year Of Eligibility For Spring Athletes In Wake Of Pandemic

The NCAA has decided to give all spring athletes an extra year of eligibility after their seasons were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The NCAA’s Division I council voted in favor of the added year on Monday. Additionally, scholarship limits will be expanded to include athletes who would have otherwise used up their eligibility in 2020. Schools may choose to offer a different level of scholarship in 2021 than what was previously given.

“Division I rules limit student-athletes to four seasons of competition in a five-year period,” an NCAA statement read. “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.”

That last part has been on the minds of many, as seniors across the country saw what would have been their final seasons abruptly ended. For some, that meant not knowing they had played the games they love for the final time. For others, it meant missing out on a chance to wear their school’s uniform once more. For those with pro aspirations, another opportunity to boost their stock was lost. None of that, however, has to happen now the NCAA has granted an additional year of eligibility.

“The Council’s decision gives individual schools the flexibility to make decisions at a campus level,” council chair and Penn athletics director M. Grace Calhoun said in the statement. “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.”

While spring athletes gained an additional year of eligibility, the same was not afforded to winter sport athletes on the basis that they had completed most or all of their 2020 regular seasons. In addition, the NCAA Council increased the roster limits for baseball, the only spring sport with such a restriction.