General | 11/4/2020 11:24:00 AM
While many pieces of legislation pass through the complex layers that form the NCAA with little fanfare, there was one item announced last week that hit particularly close to the Empire 8 conference and Nazareth College athletics as many Division III schools continue to wade through the unknown complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In short, Division III student-athletes will be able to participate in their respective sports during the 2020-21 academic year without being charged a season of participation or semesters of eligibility.
"The virus has caused continuous uncertainty for student-athletes," said Nazareth men's basketball coach
Kevin Broderick. "Thanks to the efforts of our Student Athlete Advisory Committee leaders – both here and at the national level – and the relentless work of our (Empire 8) commissioner Chuck Mitrano, this waiver provides some certainty for all D-III student-athletes."
The landscape in Division III athletics has been anything but certain since mid-March when colleges across the country began canceling athletic activities because of the COVID-19 outbreak. That uncertainty spilled into the fall sports season in the Empire 8 Conference and many conferences like it around the country as those seasons were either postponed or canceled. The NCAA followed suit by canceling all Division III fall championships. Some conferences have already canceled the winter and spring sports seasons.
Meanwhile, the Division III Presidents Council approved the blanket waiver last week after receiving the recommendation from the Division III Management Council.
The council noted that the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to dramatically affect higher education at least through the end of this academic year and likely beyond, and student-athletes are feeling the impact from both an academic and athletics perspective. The uncertainty regarding the extent of their athletics participation and the related eligibility repercussions contribute to a growing list of concerns for student-athletes.
"It's become apparent at the national level that there will be nothing normal about this year," Mitrano said.
Almost three-quarters of the Division III conferences recommended the season-of-participation blanket waiver, and it also was supported by several governance committees, including the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
"I am beyond thankful to the NCAA for correcting the situation to allow another year of eligibility," said Nazareth senior swimmer Taylor Robey. "It's a decision I plan to take advantage of through graduate school."
It was through the Student Athlete Advisory Committee that Nazareth student-athletes were able to have their voices heard. Nazareth SAAC president Noelle Giroux, a junior on the women's hockey team, was among the athletes who wrote letters of concern to the NCAA along with Robey and basketball senior Brendan Broderick.
Initially, the legislation leading to the waiver was not as forgiving. Student-athletes would have had to compete in less than 50 percent of their teams' athletic contests in order to qualify for the waiver. If, for example, Broderick's basketball team competed in post-season play or Robey swam her way to the national meet, they might not have been eligible for the waiver.
Through a push from Broderick, Giroux and Robey, plus help from Jack Mulvihill, a St. John Fisher lacrosse player and Empire 8 National SAAC rep, the NCAA was able to reconsider the legislation to the point where it passed last week.
"They definitely were instrumental in igniting interest at the national level," Mitrano said. "These student-athletes definitely made a difference."
"The COVID-19 pandemic has been an incredibly stressful situation for all of us," Giroux said. "This has been a powerful demonstration of student-athletes binding together, through the SAAC, to raise their voices, to advocate on behalf of other student-athletes and to fight for change that gives equal opportunity to all involved."