College sports is a major dimension of sports in the United States of America, it is a stage most athletes pass through before turning pro. This college sports or college athletics as some will it is powered and organized by American colleges and universities. College sports are so popular in the United States and it attracts a lot of attention which has always translated to major sponsorship deals for different college teams and the individual players themselves. In this article we shall see How Many Years Can You Play NCAA Sports?
An athlete is eligible to play NCAA sports for five (5) years of just four (4) sports seasons. Though there have been several attempts to make this rule much more flexible for special cases or circumstances that can befall a college athlete. Recently, the NCAA hearkened to one of the pleas to make the rules more flexible and granted an extra year for some special case college athletes which means they now have six (6) years to play four (4) competitive seasons. These special case athletes are;
- Current NCAA Division III athletes
- Current NJCAA athletes
- Current NAIA fall and winter sports athletes
- Current NCAA Division II fall and winter sports athletes
- Current NCAA Division I fall and winter sports athletes
College athletes have to make their limited time in college count as there are rarely extensions except in very rare exceptional cases. An athlete can confidently seek to gain the 6th year of eligibility if he/she did not participate in more than one season within the five years, that is, the athlete missed more than one sports year. The circumstances leading to the player’s inability to participate must be one beyond the player’s control, like;
- medical condition,
- natural disasters, etc.
Practices within the period the player is unable to play competitive sports do not count. So, a player can continue to train and practice individually or with the team and still be qualified to apply for the 6th year if he missed more than one year. Dressing up for games though makes your chances of getting the 6th year less probably.
The NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association is often referred to by many by its abbreviated form “NCAA”. It is 116 years old, as it was formed on march 31, 1906. It was previously known as the intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS). It was renamed NCAA from IAAUS in the year 1910. The NCAA has its headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. It has a membership of 1268 schools/institutions.
The NCAA Structure
The main body of the NCAA is the Board of Governors, which was previously known as the “Executive Committee”. The NCAA also has a well-organized legislative system, which is divided up into committees and cabinets, comprising delegates from member institutions/schools. The NCAA has had eight (8) presidents since 1951, before then, there was no full-time or comprehensive administrator.
NCAA Sports
The NCAA organizes and monitors a very wide range of sports. These sports include but are not limited to;
- Soccer
- Track and field
- Softball
- Football
- Basketball
- Volleyball
- Water polo
- Beach volleyball
- Tennis
- Swimming
- Wrestling (men)
- Diving
- Rowing (women)
All these and more are college sports under the NCAA, all to prepare the student-athletes for their professional careers. The NCAA is divided into three conferences, namely;
- Division 1
- Division 2
- Division 3.
These divisions dimensions a lot to do with scholarships offered to athletes. Division 1 and Division 2 athletes must attain certain prerequisite conditions set by the NCAA to be eligible to play. Division 3 athletes are however not bound by these strict rules set by the NCAA, it is not left for the schools under Division III to set rules guiding their student-athletes. It is not far-fetched that the level of competition in Division I NCAA sports competition is on a whole different level to that of the others, the same goes for Division II being more competitive than Division III. This can easily be inferred from the caliber of players and athletes in these divisions, as the best of the best are always playing in Division I teams. Division I teams also attract more fans coming to cheer their teams up, the same goes for the level of fighting for spots in the team.
NCAA National Championships
The first NCAA national championship was organized in the year 1921. It was majorly dominated by track and field events. The NCAA organizes seasonal national championship tournaments for most of its sports, the most popular being the basketball and football championship tournaments. A lot of these championship tournaments are televised for people to watch live, that is just how popular they are. The NCAA championships draw a lot of fans, and it is now very ordinary to have a crowd of 100,000 people coming to watch the games live at the stadium.
- Eight stadia that act as primary homes for college football teams had a capacity of over 100,000.
- The Michigan Stadium has the record for the most attendance in college football it has the record of the top six most attendance at a football college game.
Major investments and sponsors are involved in these national championship tournaments. With major sponsorship deals from;
- Coca-Cola
- AT&T
- Capital One
- and many other sponsorship deals.
A lot of bragging rights are involved in this NCAA National Championships, who has the toughest and strongest college program? Who is the best player in each division, everything is completely on the line to be decided in matchups.
Conclusion
However, the strict rules of the NCAA are flexible when the need be. It is still stable enough to vividly understand that a collegiate athlete participating in NCAA organized competition, is bound by these strict rules. A circumstance beyond the athlete’s control is a valid reason to seek a special call from the NCAA to bend one of its strict rules. A decision is taken by the panel after much deliberation, majorly to ascertain the severity of the circumstance that has befallen the athlete.
Frequently Asked Questions
1, What is the NCAA?
The NCAA is the abbreviated form of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which is a supervisory body that oversees college sports and college athletes in general.
2, Does the NCAA drug test athletes?
Yes, the NCAA perform all sorts of a drug test on athletes during the championship, including performance-enhancing drugs, steroid, and even recreational drugs like marijuana. However, the type of drugs found in the athlete’s system will determine the level of sanction the defaulting athlete will receive.
3, How can I watch NCAA games?
Some NCAA games are broadcast nationwide and even Internationally, the NCAA has on its website information on which channel or station will be broadcasting its games. However, not all the games can be televised, so the only way to watch them is to go to the stadium and watch it live.
