The term "redshirt" is used to describe a student-athlete who does not participate in competition in a sport for an entire academic year. If you do not compete in a sport the entire academic year, you have not used a season of competition. For example, if you are a qualifier, and you attend a four-year college your freshman year, and you practice but do not compete against outside competition, you would still have the next four years to play four seasons of competition.
Each student is allowed no more than four seasons of competition per sport. If you were not a qualifier, you may have fewer seasons of competition available to you. You should know that NCAA rules indicate that any competition, regardless of time, during a season counts as one of your seasons of competition in that sport. It does not matter how long you were involved in a particular competition (for example, one play in a football game, one point in a volleyball match); you will be charged with one season of competition.
Please contact the certifying institution or conference for additional information. You also may contact the NCAA membership services staff at 317/917-6222 if you have further questions.
In Division I only, if a student-athlete has participated as an individual or as a team representative in organized sports competition, that kind of participation during each 12-month period after his/her 21st birthday and prior to initial full-time collegiate enrollment will count as one year of varsity competition in that sport. Any participation in organized competition during time spent in the U.S. armed services will be excepted.
You may wish to consult with the student-athlete's current college's athletics director to determine exactly how many seasons of varsity competition he/she may have used. Please contact the NCAA membership services staff at 317/917-6222 should you have further questions.
A student-athlete who is enrolled in a graduate or professional school of the college or university which he/she previously attended as an undergraduate student may participate in intercollegiate athletics, provided he/she has eligibility remaining and is within five calendar years of initial full-time collegiate enrollment for Division I and within the first ten full-time semesters of collegiate enrollment for Divisions II and III.
A student-athlete who has eligibility remaining and is within the specified five-year or ten-semester period also may participate while enrolled in a graduate or professional school at a Division I or II college or university other than the institution at which he/she completed an undergraduate degree, provided he/she meets the criteria of the one-time transfer exception to the general transfer residence requirement. That exception is as follows:
NOTE: This exception does not apply to a student-athlete who attends a Division III institution for graduate school, unless the student-athlete is attending the same institution at which he/she was an undergraduate.
NOTE: If the student-athlete transfers to the certifying institution from a Division III member institution and meets the above-mentioned conditions, he or she may be eligible to compete but may not receive athletically related financial aid during that year.
Please contact the certifying institution or conference for additional information. You also may contact the NCAA membership services staff at 317/917-6222 if you have further questions.
[NOTE: This is not a complete list of NCAA regulations regarding eligibility rules. Please call or write the NCAA or access the NCAA Web site if you have specific questions.]
NCAA
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317/917-6222 (phone)
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www.ncaa.org
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