While you are a student-athlete at The College of Wooster, you are obligated to abide by NCAA, North Coast Athletic Conference, and College rules. The compliance officer will conduct an annual rules orientation session with each team at the beginning of each academic year. This is a mandatory meeting for all NCAA student-athletes. In order to compete as a student-athlete at the College of Wooster, you must do your part to stay within the NCAA guidelines.
Important NCAA Information for Student-Athletes
What are the ethical rules all NCAA student-athletes must abide by, in and out of season?
Unethical conduct by a prospective or enrolled student-athlete or a current or former institutional staff member may include, but is not limited to, the following:
a) Refusal to furnish information relevant to an investigation of a possible violation of an NCAA regulation when requested to do so by the NCAA or the individual’s institution;
b) Knowing involvement in arranging for fraudulent academic credit or false transcripts for a prospective or an enrolled student-athlete;
c) Knowing involvement in offering or providing a prospective or an enrolled student-athlete an improper inducement or extra benefit or improper financial aid;
d) Knowingly furnishing the NCAA or the individual’s institution false or misleading information concerning the individual’s involvement in or knowledge of matters relevant to a possible violation of an NCAA regulation;
e) Receipt of benefits by an institutional staff member for facilitating or arranging a meeting between a student-athlete and an agent, financial advisor or a representative of an agent or advisor (e.g., “runner”); or
f) Knowing involvement in providing a banned substance or impermissible supplement to student-athletes, or knowingly providing medications to student-athletes contrary to medical licensure, commonly accepted standards of care in sports practice, or state or federal law.
A student-athlete who participates in any sports wagering activity, through the Internet, a bookmaker, or a parlay card, shall be ineligible for all regular-season and postseason competition for a minimum period of one year. Casino gambling is allowed as long as there is no betting on an NCAA sponsored sport and you are of legal age to gamble.
The use of tobacco products is prohibited by all game personnel (e.g., coaches, trainers, managers and game officials) during all practice and competition.
Bylaw 18.4.1.5 provides that a student-athlete who, as a result of a drug test administered by the NCAA, is found to have used a substance on the list of banned drugs shall be declared ineligible for further participation in regular-season and post-season competition during the time period ending one calendar year after the student-athlete’s positive drug test.
What academic rules must a Wooster student-athlete abide by (credit hours, GPA, etc.)?
In order to practice or compete, you must carry 3 full credit courses or more and be in good academic standing with the College. In order to be in Good Academic Standing The College of Wooster requires a 2.0 GPA and students must pass 3 full credits each semester.
An exception to the above rule is when an athlete is in his or her final semester or quarter of the baccalaureate program and the institution certifies that the student is carrying (for credit) the courses necessary to complete the degree requirements, as determined by the faculty of the institution. The student granted eligibility under this provision shall be eligible for any NCAA championship that begins within 60 days following said semester, provided the student has not exhausted the 10 semesters for completion of the individual’s four seasons of eligibility
What is the process to become eligible to practice and compete?
In order to become eligible to practice and compete, you must:
- Have a physical and be cleared to participate by the head of sports medicine;
- Carry or be registered for 3 full credit courses (or more);
- Fill out all necessary NCAA-related paperwork provided by the compliance officer;
- If you are a late addition to the roster, the head coach must fill out a roster add form first and turn it in to the compliance officer. The athlete then must complete the above requirements.
What is an ‘athletically related activity”? How does this affect me in and out of season, including summers?
Fall season sports are allowed 18 weeks of practice, while winter and spring sports are allowed 19 weeks of practice. Outside of these weeks, coaches should not be requiring you to practice your sport. You can participate in weight-lifting/conditioning programs, film review, and participate on your old club teams, but nothing may be required. Your position on the team should not be jeopardized because you choose not to send back a ‘summer log’ of workouts. During the off-season, summer included, coaches may send out suggested workout activities, but the coach cannot monitor this in any way.
Below is the NCAA definition for Athletically Related Activities:
Practice, which is defined as any meeting, activity or instruction involving sports-related information and having an athletics purpose, held for one or more student-athletes at the direction of, or supervised by, any member or members of an institution’s coaching staff. Practice is considered to have occurred if one or more coaches and one or more student-athletes engage in any of the following activities:
- Field, floor or on-court activity;
- Setting up offensive or defensive alignment;
- Chalk talk;
- Lecture on or discussion of strategy related to the sport:
- Activities using equipment related to the sport;
- Discussions or review of game films, motion pictures or videotapes related to the sport; or
- Any other athletically related activity.
- Competition;
- Required weight-training and conditioning activities held at the direction of or supervised by an institutional staff member;
- Participation in a physical-fitness class (including a summer class) conducted by a member of the athletics staff not listed in the institution’s catalog and not open to all students. Such a class may not include practice activities conducted under the guise of physical education class work;
- Required participation in camps, clinics or workshops;
- Individual workouts required or supervised by a member of the coaching staff. A coach may design a voluntary general individual-workout program for a student-athlete (as opposed to a specific workout program for specific days) but cannot conduct the individual’s workout;
- On-court or on-field activities called by any member(s) of a team and confined primarily to members of that team that are considered requisite for participation in that sport (e.g., captain’s practices);
- Visiting the competition site in cross-country, golf and skiing;
- Reservation or use of an institution’s athletics facilities when such activities are supervised by or held at the direction of any member of an institution’s coaching staff;
- Involvement of an institution’s strength and conditioning staff with enrolled student-athletes in required conditioning programs; and
- Observation by an institution’s coaching staff member of enrolled student-athletes in non-organized sport-specific activities (e.g., “pick-up games”).
There are exceptions to the above rules. The following activities shall not be considered athletically related:
- Administrative and academic activities that are non-athletics in nature (e.g., academic meetings and compliance meetings);
- Fundraising and community service activities not involving the use of athletics ability by student-athletes to obtain funds
- Observation of an officiating clinic related to playing rules that is conducted by video conference and does not require student-athletes to miss any class time to observe the clinic;
- Observation of enrolled student-athletes in organized competition (e.g., summer league), provided institutional athletics personnel do not direct or supervise the organized activity; and
- Voluntary individual workouts monitored for safety purposes by strength and conditioning personnel.
The NCAA does not allow Division III student-athletes to receive “extra benefits” because they happen to participate on an athletic team. What is a non-permissible “extra benefit”?
An extra benefit includes any special arrangement by an employee of The College of Wooster or booster to provide student-athletes, their relatives or friends, a benefit not expressly authorized by the NCAA. Examples of impermissible extra benefits include, but are not limited to:
- a) Gifts or loans of clothing, stereo equipment, compact discs, food, beverages
- Transportation
- Use of an automobile
- Low interest or interest-free loans, telephone cards, credit cards, charge accounts, etc.
- Gifts of more than the allowable number of complimentary admissions
- Special discounts on products or services
- Special payment arrangements on personal purchases
- Material benefits that are not available to the general student body
As a host for prospective students-athletes, what are you allowed to do? Not allowed to do?
Remember you are an ambassador for the athletics department. Your actions should reflect positively on your team, the athletic department and The College of Wooster.
- You are responsible for keeping your prospect on time for all appointments. You must attend all functions with your prospect unless excused by your coach.
- Individuals involved in the recruit’s visit will act in a responsible manner and are expected to abide by the law. (Do not take an underage prospect to a bar or club which allows admittance only to those 21 years of age or older).
- The use of alcohol, drugs, sex or any illegal activity in recruiting will not be tolerated and will result in disciplinary action.
- NCAA rules must be abided by in all situations.
- Never leave a recruit alone with a non-team member. Do not set up dates for the recruit.
- Have a plan for entertaining the recruit and review with your head coach. Advise the head coach in advance of any changes to the plan.
- If your prospect acts in a manner detrimental to The College of Wooster, report this to your head coach immediately.
If you have any questions about your responsibilities as a prospect host/hostess, please do not hesitate to contact your coach or the compliance officer.
Question: Can current student-athletes help recruit athletes from their home areas?
Yes. Please let your coach know about possible student-athletes from your area. This can be very helpful. If there is not a pre-existing friendship with these prospects, you need to be careful that you do not break any NCAA recruiting rules. Please see your coach for details about this.
Question: If I would like to transfer from The College of Wooster, how do I do it?
To look into transferring to another Division III school, fill out the NCAA self-release form (located on ncaa.org, found by clicking on forms). Once this form has been completed and you have sent it to the other school(s), you are free to contact the coach at the new school(s). This release is good for 30 days. During this 30-day period, your coach at The College of Wooster will not know about your possible transfer unless you tell them. After the 30-day period, the school(s) you have sent a release to can contact Wooster regarding your transfer status. You can sign a second release to extend the time for an additional 30 days, if needed. You are highly encouraged to talk to your Wooster coach about a possible transfer.
If you are looking to transfer (and play) at a Division I or II school, you must contact the compliance officer at The College of Wooster to send out a release.