What if your College Sports Program is Cut

As I was planning this week’s newsletter, I was preparing to write an article about the number of college sports programs that are being eliminated. Most, if not all, of these sports programs are being dropped at least in part due to the financial impact of COVID-19 on athletic department budgets and on overall college enrollment at many institutions.

Then, I opened the sports section of our local newspaper and an Associated Press sportswriter had already researched and written an article on this topic.

Here’s a link to that complete article:

https://bit.ly/2Xl0oOt

As of the writing of that AP article, the following number of sports programs have been dropped at each four-year college level.

NCAA Division I – 19

NCAA Division II – 47

NCAA Division III – 19

NAIA – 12

Student-athletes who were members of these teams or who had been recruited by these teams as incoming freshmen are stuck in a very unfortunate situation. If they choose to transfer to find a new team at another college, they don’t have much time to select a new college before classes begin this Fall.

For student-athletes who participate in spring sports, they face the additional challenge of trying to find another team when rosters may already be overloaded due to all college spring sport athletes being granted an additional year of eligibility after their seasons were cut short due to COVID-19.

These student-athletes – especially those at NCAA Division II, Division III, or NAIA – may want to consider taking off a semester or year from school, or only taking a part-time course load for a period of time, to have more time to consider their options.

We can discuss these possible options and explain the pros and cons to consider before your athlete makes a rush decision. All information you share and we discuss is private and confidential. Our focus is what is in your athlete’s best interest only.

Schedule your Eligibility Issues consult online or by calling 913-766-1235 or sending an email to rick@informedathlete.com.