NCAA grants extra year of eligibility to spring sports athletes

The NCAA will extend the eligibility of athletes on spring sports teams one year to make up for the season lost to the new coronavirus.

The decision comes after the NCAA announced Thursday that its winter and spring championships would be canceled as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus. Some but not all conferences have announced their spring sports teams would not continue their regular seasons.

An athletics official at an East Coast school told the Associated Press that the NCAA Division I Council Coordination Committee sent an email notifying schools of the eligibility decision. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to release the information.

The official read the content of the email but declined to forward a copy because the official’s university monitors outgoing emails.

“The Council Coordination Committee agreed that it will be appropriate to grant relief for the use of a season of competition for student-athletes who have participated in spring sports. The committee recognizes that several issues need to be addressed related to providing the additional season of competition, including financial aid implications. The committee will also discuss issues related to seasons of competition for winter student-athletes,” the email read.