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Division 1 Board of Directors approve extra year of eligibility for all fall sport athletes

<p>Trenton White waves the flag after Auburn scores a touchdown in Jordan-Hare Stadium on Oct. 22, 2016.</p>

Trenton White waves the flag after Auburn scores a touchdown in Jordan-Hare Stadium on Oct. 22, 2016.

The NCAA’s Division I Board of Directors voted Friday to approve an additional year of eligibility for all fall sport student-athletes. The board also met to work out a plan to move all fall championships to the spring. 

Earlier this week, the Division I Council met to decide whether or not to approve both plans for student-athletes impacted by COVID 19. 

According to their approved plan, any student-athlete who competes and then opts out of future sports participation or has their season cut short due to COVID-19 will receive “both an additional year of eligibility and an additional year in which to complete it, through a blanket waiver.” 

Under the plan, certain protections are allotted to student-athletes, such as protecting scholarships for any player that opts out of their respective season. 

Regarding fall championships being played in the spring, board members warned that these championships should only be flexed to the spring if they can be conducted safely and following local and state health guidelines. 

The fall championships that are impacted by a potential move to the spring include every sport except football. For Auburn, this includes soccer, volleyball and cross country. 

This action only impacts upcoming fall championships, and further action like bracket sizes and composition are to approved by the board at a later date. 

“The priority remains preserving opportunities for winter and spring sport student-athletes who did not have the chance to participate in NCAA championships in 2019-2020.”

“We want to provide opportunities for student-athletes whenever possible,” said board chair Denise Trauth, who is the president of Texas State. “We understand it will be complicated and different, and we’re not certain how it will look. But we believe it’s important to try and give students that championship experience.” 


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