NCAA Extends On-Campus Training Approval to All Athletes
Two days after giving athletes participating in football, men's basketball and women's basketball permission to resume on-campus training activities, the NCAA Division I Council has voted to extend the approval to athletes in all intercollegiate sports.
The vote was held electronically, according to a release issued Friday.
“The return of voluntary activity in addition to the extension of the waiver to allow virtual, nonphysical activity shows sensitivity to local, state and regional differences in how Division I campuses are reopening,” said NCAA Council chair M. Grace Calhoun, the athletic director at Penn. “We will continue to be considerate of these differences with wise and flexible administration of our regulations, and we expect schools to keep the well-being of student-athletes as a priority.”
Voluntary athletics activities allowed in all Division I sports starting June 1: https://t.co/mFHQOder3w pic.twitter.com/aWpOKFJgdO
— NCAA News (@NCAA_PR) May 22, 2020
Although the NCAA has stipulated that any workouts under the current conditions should be strictly voluntary and must technically be initiated by the athlete, it figures that "voluntary" is a loose term.
However, while the workouts may be monitored by the school's strength and conditioning staff, the activities are not allowed to be attended or directed by coaches and the details of the workouts are may not be reported back to a coach.
Required team activities are prohibited through at least June 30 for all basketball and football athletes.
Among the other guidelines as spelled out in the NCAA's statement Friday:
◼ Schools will, however, be permitted to provide football student-athletes with funds equal to what they would receive to cover meals, lodging and expenses (other than tuition/fees and books) through a summer athletics scholarship.
◼ Football Bowl Subdivision members of the Council also decided that FBS schools cannot host football camps and clinics during the summer of 2020 and FBS coaches (including graduate assistants) are prohibited from working at football camps and clinics held at other four-year NCAA schools in 2020.
◼ Football Championship Subdivision members of the Council did not support the ban on camps and clinics or coaches working at them. The recruiting dead period in place through June 30 prohibits football camps and clinics in any subdivision. If the recruiting dead period is extended again, camps and clinics will continue to be prohibited.
While Louisville and other ACC schools have announced schedules for their athletes to return to campus, It is not yet known when NC State will allow its athletes to resume organized training activities.
Athletic department spokesman Fred Demarest that it's "premature to comment at the current time" and that school administrators will "continue to evaluate what the ultimate path forward looks like."
On Thursday, State chancellor Randy Woodson announced plans to reopen the university's campus after the cancelation of spring and summer semesters in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The fall semester will begin on Aug. 10, two weeks earlier than originally scheduled. The new academic calendar will also do away with fall break and end the semester around Thanksgiving.
