Bylaw Amendment Effective Date: May 1, 2023 as applied to eligibility decisions for NAIA competition in August 2023 or beyond.
In the sports of indoor track and field, outdoor track and field and wrestling, a student-athlete’s participation in a competitive event shall count towards the student’s 20% threshold, regardless of whether the student-athlete officially represents the institution in competition, when the following conditions are met:
- The student-athlete is certified as eligible in the given sport at any point during the academic year; and
- The student-athlete participates in a competitive event that includes one or more collegiate teams at any point during the academic year.
Approved ruling: in the sports of indoor track and field, outdoor track and field and wrestling, a student-athlete’s participation in competitive experience(s) when not representing their institution will count towards the student’s 20% threshold if the student was identified at the NAIA institution at the time of competition and the student is certified at the NAIA institution in the academic year during which the competition occurred.
If the student was never certified at the NAIA institution during the academic term in which the competition occurred, then the competitive experience(s) will not be included in the 20% calculation while the student is identified at the NAIA institution.
If the student transfers during the academic year, only competitive experience(s) that occur while the student is identified at the certifying NAIA institution will be considered in the 20% calculation for a season of competition. If the student was not identified at the time of the competitive experience(s), then the student’s participation will be evaluated per part b of this bylaw.
The following examples will walk you through whether a student-athlete will be charged an SOC for either outside competition and/or intercollegiate competition and whether the student will need an updated Eligibility Center decision when transferring.
