New Legislation: Seasons of Competition

Legislative Services is going to spend the next few months writing briefs on the new legislation that was passed at the annual business meeting held at the 2020 Fall Meetings due to the COVID Virus.  You can find all of the changes in one spot here.

This week we are going to address the new season of competition bylaw in Article V, Section B, Item 18 (amended to Article V, Section B, Item 19). This bylaw goes into effect on May 1, 2021, for eligibility decisions for competition starting on August 1, 2021.

20-B-04

Season of Competition – Minimum Participation

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18. Season of Competition:

1. Participation in one or more than 20% of the maximum allowable number of intercollegiate contests or dates (excluding scrimmages), whether in a varsity, junior varsity or freshman program, during the 24-week season. Any participation in NAIA-approved postseason shall result in a season of competition. The NAIA shall count seasons of competition based on intercollegiate participation charged by another intercollegiate athletic association.

A student who participates in the following number of contests or dates during the 24-week season will be charged a season of competition.

NOTE 1:   These limits shall be updated annually to reflect 20% of the maximum allowable limit as listed in Article I, Section H, Item 1 of the NAIA Bylaws plus one additional contest/date.

Article V, Section B, Item 18 (amended to Article V, Section B, Item 19)

This new exception was proposed by the Competitive Experience Committee and will cover intercollegiate athletic participation beginning on August 1, 2021. The intention is to institute a minimum number of intercollegiate contests a student must participate in before they would be charged a season of competition. The numbers above are equivalent to a student competing in the minimum amount of intercollegiate contests to be charged a season of competition. For example a basketball player would be charged a season of competition if she competed in seven contests. Don’t forget that competition in NAIA approved postseason will automatically charge a student a season of competition regardless of the number of games they compete in.

All types of contests will count towards the total number of contests except for scrimmages. This is a continuation of the previous bylaw that stated a student would not be charged for competing in scrimmages only. A key point of this legislation is that the 20% calculation is based on the frequency of play limits for each sport. For the purposes of this bylaw, it does not matter how many games your team actually competes in. Take basketball again, if your team only plays in 15 games any students who only compete in six contests will not be charged a season of competition. Despite the fact that the student played in more than 20% of the games the team actually held.

This amended legislation removes the unattached exception. As you might know, the unattached exception had undergone massive changes recently and the proposers felt this bylaw change simplified this bylaw. Not to mention it makes this bylaw more equitable across all sports the NAIA sponsors. Instead of an athlete and coach trying to thread the unattached exception needle, they now know exactly how many contests an eligible student can compete in before they are charged.

Another big change will be to the medical hardship process for NAIA student-athletes. Note that the contest limits under the new 20% rule reflect the same contest limits under the previous medical hardship requirements. This means that the medical hardship limits, if met, are no longer applicable as the limits under the 20% SOC rule simply mimics the previous game limits. Additionally, the new 20% SOC rule is more lenient than the previous medical hardship process as the new rule does not require a medical doctor's evaluation during the sport season in question to determine if a student suffered a season-ending injury. In the sport of football, for example, a student-athlete could compete in the first game, sit out the following two games, and then play in one more game in the season. Regardless if the student was injured or not, the student would receive an exception to the season of competition as the student competed in 20% or less of the frequency of play limits thus not being charged a season for that current academic year. Therefore, the medical hardship process for NAIA student-athletes is no longer applicable. The NAIA national office will not process medical hardship requests for seasons beginning August 1, 2021 and moving forward. Medical hardships may still be submitted for seasons prior to this date and/or for student-athletes who are not competing in the NAIA at the time of injury. 

Seasons of competition for non-intercollegiate competition will continue to be reviewed in the same manner (note the amended outside competitive legislation that goes into effect May 1, 2022). Furthermore, the NAIA will continue to take previous seasons charged or not charged by previous athletic associations at face value.

Case Studies

*Assume all schools are NAIA institutions unless otherwise noted.

*Assume all competition takes place after this legislation goes into effect.

*Assume all games are countable unless otherwise noted.

Scenario 1:

Coach Plummer has a star freshman quarterback who was forced into action for the final regular season game in the fall of 2021. The QB miraculously leads Coach Plummer’s team to a NAIA national championship earning MVP honors in the championship game. Will Coach Plummer’s star quarterback be charged a season of competition?

Answer 1:

Yes! You might be wondering how many games the QB played in, but that is immaterial because he played in NAIA approved postseason. Thus this quarterback will be charged one season of competition for the fall of 2021.  

Scenario 2:

Josh is a basketball player at Smitty College and is a starter on the JV team and will also play varsity occasionally. The first four varsity and JV basketball games for Smitty College are on the same day and Josh plays in all 8 of the games. Unfortunately Josh was injured in the 8^th game and was not able to play any more games for the rest of the year. Will Josh be charged a season of competition?

Answer 2:

No! This is a basketball specific exception that is actually found in Article I, Section G, Item 1, the frequency of play bylaw. The exception states that for basketball only, an athlete can compete in a JV and varsity game on the same day and it would only count as one contest. The athlete can do this 10 times in a season. This means that even though Josh played in 8 games, it would only count as 4. The SOC mark for basketball is 7 so Josh would not be charged a season of competition in basketball for the 2021-2022 academic year.  

Scenario 3:

Abbey is a softball player at Tulsa College and competes in two countable games in the fall of 2021. Abbey misses her dog and transfers to Boone University for the spring of 2022 and meets the residency exception allowing her to compete in the spring 2022 term. Abbey plays in 11 games at Boone U in the spring. How many seasons will Abbey be charged for the 2021-2022 academic year?

Answer 3:

Zero! The 20% contest threshold is school specific and you will not add competitions for multiple schools together. So Abbey would not be charged a season of competition for the two games at Tulsa College and would also not be charged for playing in 11 games at Boone U. In prior years, Abbey would have been charged two seasons of competition.

Scenario 4:

Ellen competes in four countable soccer matches in the fall of 2021, two exhibitions, and one scrimmage. Will she be charged a season of competition?

Answer 4:

Yes! Ellen will be charged a season of competition because she competed in five or more competitions (excluding scrimmages) in the season. Countable games, exhibitions, and non-countable games all count towards her totals, but true scrimmages do not. We would encourage you to review the definition of scrimmage in Article V, Section B, Item 17.  

Scenario 5:

Erin’s volleyball team was only able to schedule 12 dates of competition in the fall of 2021. Erin competed on six of those dates. Would Erin be charged a season of competition?

Answer 5:

She would not be charged a season of competition even though she competed in 50% of her the team’s dates. Remember the threshold is based on the frequency of play limits and it doesn’t matter how many games/dates the team actually competed in.

Scenario 6:

Megan competes for her Lacrosse team at Bohr College. Megan only played in two regular season contests and the first contest of the conference tournament. The team that won the conference tournament received an automatic bid to the NAIA Lacrosse Postseason. Will Megan be charged a season of competition?

Answer 6:

Yes, she will be charged a season of competition for competing in NAIA approved postseason. Since the conference tournament had an automatic bid given to the winner, then the conference tournament is considered to be NAIA approved postseason. Anyone who competes in NAIA approved postseason will be charged a season of competition.

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