I’ve had several separate inquiries within the past two weeks in which an athlete or parent asked about “opting out” this Spring to preserve the athlete’s redshirt season in their sport.
These athletes/parents wanted to know if they could simply choose to tell their coach that they wanted to opt out from their current season to preserve a redshirt year and to also protect their scholarship.
While it was possible two years ago for an athlete to opt out, that is not the case anymore.
If an athlete is hoping to preserve their current season as a redshirt season, they will need to talk with their coach to determine if he/she will allow them to redshirt.
Before talking to your coach, consider this:
In most sports, NCAA Division I and II student-athletes who participate in a contest for just one minute, one play or one match or set, will trigger the use of one of their four seasons of competition.
In addition, student-athletes thinking about redshirting should think carefully about whether they want to bring up the topic with their coach. That can be a difficult decision to make.
- On the one hand, if an athlete doesn’t bring up the topic of redshirting with their coach and then end the season having only participated in very limited minutes, innings or other amount of competition, they may regret the decision to not bring it up.
- On the other hand, some coaches might become angry at an athlete’s request to redshirt and end up removing the athlete from the team completely.
If you’re interested in a confidential consultation about the possibility of redshirting and the potential impact on your scholarship and future eligibility,schedule a confidential Eligibility Issues Consultation online, or by calling 913-766-1235.
