Tryouts
Approved Ruling: Tryouts of prospective students, in accordance with NAIA Bylaws, shall not constitute practice per Article I, Section H, Item 6, although institutional team members may be involved. Such activity if conducted outside of the team’s 24-week season will not trigger the 24-week season.
Tryouts may occur at any point throughout the calendar year. A tryout conducted on one day will count as one of the total two days a potential student-athlete may utilize per NAIA institution. Tryouts must be institutional policy and must apply to all students with special talents. The policy cannot apply solely to athletes.
Sport Clinics/ Summer Camps
Approved Ruling: Clinics and summer camps conducted by coaches and or sport programs will not be considered tryouts as long as the coach conducting the clinic or camp does not:
- Give a particular prospective student-athletes special instruction not offered to others in attendance,
- Give particular prospective student-athletes repeated use in drills or as the “example player”,
- Give particular prospective student-athletes special treatment that the rest of the attendees do not receive (i.e., participate in the clinic without paying a fee which all other attendees must pay, free transportation from the coaches, etc.). These type of benefits would constitute a violation of the Financial Aid Bylaw Article II, Section B.
Prospective Student — Practice During Academic Term
Case: A women’s basketball student-athlete attends a four-year school during the 2014-2015 academic year. The student decides to transfer to an NAIA institution for the spring 2016 term. During the fall 2015 academic term, the student is not enrolled at any higher education institution, but would like to practice with an NAIA women’s basketball team prior to starting school in the spring. Can the student start practice with the team in October during the academic term if they are not identified with any other institution of higher learning?
Approved Ruling: No. A prospective student may not practice with an institution’s team(s) during an academic term.
