Am I eligible to play NCAA Ball?

April 11, 2011 7:08 PM

I played one season of soccer in 2003 for a NJCAA school. I am now 28 years old and want to play NCAA soccer. Am I eligible? for how many years? P.S I have received my bachelors degree from an NCAA school but played no sports there. I have tried googling to no avail. A link or citation would be very useful! I was considering getting a lawyer to help me sort this out once and for all, but maybe metafilter can do it!
posted by crawltopslow to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (8 answers total)

Chris Weinke played for and won a championship (in football) with the Florida State Seminoles at the age of 28. But his case was different from yours. I believe that you have a period of 5 years of eligibility from your first eligible year, and participation in junior college athletics should count toward that. Also, I think your first year of eligibility has to be before age 25. Based on the information you've provided, it seems unlikely that you would be eligible. I would inquire directly with the NCAA or the college you're interested in, however.
posted by MetalFingerz at 7:28 PM on April 11, 2011

I think your answer is probably here.
posted by J. Wilson at 7:41 PM on April 11, 2011

Response by poster: I appreciate the link J. Wilson but it doesn't really answer my question.

'
MetalFingerz thanks for the information, but I am looking for something more conclusive.
posted by crawltopslow at 7:45 PM on April 11, 2011

Response by poster: I am willing to go back as undergrad, or grad student, whichever one could make it more possible for me to be eligible.
posted by crawltopslow at 7:48 PM on April 11, 2011

I believe it's dependent on what division of school you're interested in playing at.

For D-III schools (example), your eligibility lasts for 10 semesters / 15 quarters after you initially enrolled at college. So, if you managed to get your degree in a shorter amount of time, you might still retain a year of eligibility.

For D-I schools (example), the limit is 5 years from when you started college.

I think this is in the NCAA bylaws somewhere as well...
posted by RyanAdams at 8:14 PM on April 11, 2011

Best answer: This doc has a lot of the information you need -- NJCAA has the same rules as NCAA. You are not eligible for Div 1 at all -- like MetalFingerz says, you had a 5-year window that started when you enrolled at your first school (not when you started playing, but when you enrolled) so that's now closed. You might be eligible for Div 2 or Div 3 -- they have a 10 semester/15 quarter non-consecutive full-time student limit.

But you should get in touch with the school you might be interested in playing at -- they have people whose jobs it is to know these rules.
posted by brainmouse at 8:16 PM on April 11, 2011

Response by poster: Thanks for all the help! I guess my only shot is to try to play Div 2 or Div 3... Now I gotta find that out!
posted by crawltopslow at 3:37 AM on April 12, 2011

Seconding contact the program somewhere you'd want to play. They have people while job it is to figure this out.
posted by FlyingMonkey at 4:15 AM on April 12, 2011