[emoji15]Extending College Eligibility Again

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Apr 23, 2014
389
43
East Jabib
Latest rumor - fair or not fair?

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Apr 5, 2013
2,130
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Back on the dirt...
Sucks for all but I still don’t think it fair to the younger ones. If the older girls “got their education”, then lets let the next group in. Granted I have a 2024... so a little biased here.
 
Jul 3, 2013
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Sucks for all but I still don’t think it fair to the younger ones. If the older girls “got their education”, then lets let the next group in. Granted I have a 2024... so a little biased here.

I don't think that there's much to be concerned about. Perhaps a small increase in out of pocket money for school.

Most girls aren't going to college to play softball, they're playing ball while in college. They aren't planning on being there after they graduate. And I think, in general, schools would balk at paying tuition for 5th or 6th year students to play a non revenue sport. Not to mention that grad school is probably hard to do while playing a sport.

I will add that if this does happen, my DD (scheduled to graduate 2022) will have a four year nursing degree with two years of eligibility left. I honestly can't think of scenario that has her going to grad school and playing, much less playing on an athletic scholarship.
 
Dec 11, 2010
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Pretty fair for any 2020’s that lost their senior year of high school.

Maybe not so much for players that have got in all of their hs and college seasons.

Like @Comocoach said, most aren’t going to hang around any longer than they have to to get their degree, especially D1’s.

D1 softball can be hard. It’s like four years of boot camp for a lot of players.

Dd: “It’s pretty casual. They leave to doors open so you can come and go- y’know so you can throw up outside.”
 
Jun 7, 2016
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Ivy league schools already postponed 2021 spring sports thru February. Cuts into alot of season. Dont think the vaccine is going to come fast enough to help this spring.
 
Nov 5, 2014
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Based on the replies I think most would be surprised to see the number of athletes that are and will take advantage of the extra eligibility. I don't have anywhere near complete data to be certain but the anecdotal evidence suggests the numbers are significant at multiple levels of the sport and the impacts, both direct and indirect, are huge. Here are some examples:

DD's teammate is a 2022 Notre Dame Commit. Notre Dame had 3 seniors return as a result the coaches told her the 2022 recruiting class of 3 was the smallest they have ever had. No reason to believe that this will not impact the next 3 classes at minimum due to the extra year of eligibility granted last spring to all athletes. This would increase even more if another waiver is granted.

Arizona had 6 seniors opt to come back. This led to 5 transfers from their current roster creating indirect impacts to the schools those players eventually land at.

Heard 2nd hand that Furman currently has 28 players on the roster where they typically carry 19 creating quite the logjam.

A 2021 Missouri committed P from NY received a voicemail from the coach saying due to the Covid eligibility waiver they would no longer be able to honor her commitment. She landed a spot at syracuse but other committs might not be as lucky especially at less valuable positions.

DD's HS teammate is a freshman at Tufts, 4 seniors opted to attend grad school and utilize the extra year making the playing time prospects for those freshman considerably worse.

Those are just the examples I have personally heard about, I am certain there are tons of other stories like these and it is impacting everything from SEC, Pac 12 all the way down to high academic D3 NESCAC(this one I never expected)

In my biased opinion, DD and her teammates are all 2022/2023, the current HS players are bearing a disproportionate amount of the burden created by Covid19. They all missed 1 HS season already with this spring still uncertain and are having their college opportunities impacted as well.
 
Apr 20, 2015
961
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This would completely suck. Some of those girls have already gotten an extra year of eligibility now they get 2 extra years that's insane

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Dec 2, 2013
3,410
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Texas
DD will be freshman next year, but will be a Jr academically. Highly doubt she will take any of those extra years...unless she's chasing some all time career records. LOL.
 

ez_softball

Life at the diamond...
Apr 14, 2017
158
28
I think it will work out fine for the younger girls as I don't think MOST of the older girls will stick around an extra year or 2. I think my daughters college has one "Super Senior" out of last years graduation class. My guess would be if they add another year of eligibility they might end up with a couple "Super Seniors" next year as they have a large graduating class. I think my daughter is probably a lot like most girls, she wants to get through school as fast as possible and she'll play softball while she is there but once school is out of the way, there is no way she's not sticking around to play.
 
May 27, 2013
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I think what also needs to be considered is the fact of will there even be jobs for graduates available due to Covid over the next year? I left a big pharma company when Covid hit in March and that company is now planning a lot of layoffs. Many people who I know that still work there have not been back on-site since March. I would assume most big-name companies that host a lot of interns who transition to employees are in the same boat. It makes sense that would-be graduates pursue graduate studies at their schools vs graduating with a bachelors and trying to find employment when so many experienced candidates who were laid off will also be looking.
 
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