PRACTICE AND COMPETITION
NCAA rules and regulations limit the time that student-athletes may participate in athletic activities (e.g., practice activities, the length of its playing seasons and the number of its regular-season contests and/or dates of competition) on a daily, weekly and yearly basis.
In-Season Activities and Time
Limits
During a particular sport's primary playing season,
student-athletes may be involved in athletically-related
activities up to 20 hours per week and four hours per day
("the 20/4 hour limits"). Examples of athletically-related
activities include: required practice, conditioning, strength
training, competition, discussion of game films, lectures
regarding the sport, required participation in
camps/clinics/workshops, and any other on-field, on-court,
on-floor or on-water activity.
Counting Competition: All activities on the day of competition count as three hours, regardless of actual length. For example, a baseball double-header that takes up six hours or a field hockey game that takes up two hours, still counts as three hours of athletic activity.
Out-of-Season Activities and
Time Limits
Outside of a sport's primary playing season,
student-athletes may be involved up to eight hours of
weight-training, conditioning and skill/game-related
instruction. Skill/game-related may take up to two of the
eight hours only and may occur in groups of no more than four
student-athletes at a time, except as indicated below.
Men's Basketball: There is no limit on the number of student-athletes who may be involved in skill instruction at any one time. (But the limit of two hours of skill instruction of the eight hours still applies.)
Women's Basketball: Student-athletes may participate in up to four hours of skill-related instruction as part of the 8 hours, and there is no limit on the number of student-athletes who may be involved in skill instruction at any one time.
Football: Skill/game-related instruction may not occur outside the season in football. However, football student-athletes may review game film for up to two of the eight hours per week outside the season.
Day(s) Off
In season: During the playing season, student-athletes must receive one day off from all athletic activities. This rule does not apply during Southland Conference and NCAA Championships or during a vacation period in the academic year. A day when the team is traveling may count as the required day off provided no athletically-related activities also occur on that day.
Out of Season: Outside the playing season, student-athletes must receive two days off from all athletic activities.
Outside Competition
Student-athletes may participate as members of outside teams (i.e., teams other than their intercollegiate team) only on a limited basis. Student-athletes should check with their college coach prior to participating on any outside team and/or in any athletic event where they are not representing their college/university. Not checking with their coach first will generally result in a violation of NCAA rules, which will require that the student-athlete be withheld from a certain number of intercollegiate competitions.
