Eligibility: SAIT Volleyball-Coulter |
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Eligibility Ruling
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2022-23 SeasonOctober 3, 2022
Facts: Grace Coulter was a member of the Western University Women’s Volleyball team during the 2021-22 academic year. Her participation was limited to the Fall semester, during which athletic competition did not commence until November 19, 2021 . Although Ms. Coulter was academically eligible to return to Western during the Winter semester, she chose not to return, primarily due to the impact of Covid restrictions placed on U Sports institutions located within Ontario, including a delayed in-person return to campus for first year students until February 28, 2022. Ms. Coulter did not attend another post-secondary institution during the Winter 2022 semester. Ms. Coulter has enrolled at SAIT for the 2022-23 academic year. The Universal Transfer Form SAIT received from Western University indicates that Ms. Coulter would not be academically eligible to compete during the current semester had she returned to that institution. The Transfer Form was accompanied by a letter from the Western Athletics Department outlining that the 2021-22 U Sports athletic season was interrupted between December 2021 and late February 2022. As a first year student, Ms. Coulter elected to withdraw after the Fall 2021 semester due to the uncertainty of the timing of return to in-person classes and athletic participation resulting from unpredictable Covid-19 restrictions. SAIT seeks a ruling that Ms. Coulter be declared immediately eligible to participate during the 2022-23 academic year on a compassionate basis. Ruling: U Sports eligibility rules differ from those of the ACAC/CCAA. Within the U Sports, Ms. Coulter was required to have completed 18 credit hours before August 31, 2022 in order to have been deemed eligible to participate during the 2022-23 academic year notwithstanding that she had not participated during the Winter 2022 semester. In this case, Ms. Coulter successfully completed 9 credit hours during the Fall 2021 semester. However, since she did not attend a post-secondary institution during the Winter 2022 semester, she did not complete 18 credit hours during the 2021-22 academic year and was thus declared ineligible to participate had she returned to Western for the current academic year. One of the relevant ACAC provisions is contained at Article I Section 5 Rule 1.1.4.4 of the ACAC Operating Code, which is worded as follows: 1.1.4.4. One Semester Participation A studentâathlete who begins play for an ACAC team in the fall semester (and only participates for one semester), must pass a minimum of either: a) 9 credits in the semester of participation; or b) 18 credits over the full academic year, in order to be eligible for participation in the subsequent academic year. A student athlete, who starts participating for the first time in an academic year in the winter semester, must pass 9 credits in that semester of participation or 18 credits before the start of the next academic year. Academic eligibility for a one semester participant is assessed at the conclusion of the academic year August 31st. If the student athlete fails to earn the 18 credits over the academic year or 9 credits in the semester of participation, the Reinstatement Rule is applied on August 31st and participation in the subsequent fall semester is denied. In addition, Article I Section 5 Rule 1.6.2.1 states as follows: 1.6.2.1. A student-athlete who for the first time in their postsecondary career, transfers to a CCAA institution, is eligible to complete immediately, provided that all other eligibility criteria are met, including being academically eligible to compete in the subsequent semester at the previous institution they attended and, if transferring mid-season, are participating in a different sport (as per 1.6.1. above). That is, s/he is NOT required to sit-out one (1) year (365 days) from the date of their last league/playoff game participation as required in 1.6.2.2 below. Finally, Article I Section 5 Rule 1.6.4.1 states: 1.6.4.1. A student-athlete who transfers to a CCAA institution from a post-secondary institution outside of or within the CCAA is considered eligible to compete immediately in the CCAA if the student athlete is deemed academically eligible to compete in the subsequent semester at the previous institution they attended. Does not include mid-season transfers in the same sport or mid-season transfers in a different sport without meeting fall eligibility requirements as noted in 1.6.3.2.1 (Amended July 2018/May, 2020/December, 2020) Based on the wording of the above rules, it is clear that Ms. Coulter would have been eligible to participate immediately had she transferred from one ACAC institution to another given that she had successfully completed 9 credit hours during her one semester of participation during the 2021-22 academic year. The manner by which the ACAC resolves analogous transfers within member institutions, as outlined above, combined with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Ms. Coulter’s decision not to return to Western, requires an empathetic response to this request. In particular, one of the principles of eligibility contained within the Operating Code calls for the encouragement of inclusiveness of student participation in athletic opportunities. Accordingly, based on the circumstances outlined above, and assuming that all other eligibility criteria have been satisfied, Ms. Coulter is eligible to immediately participate within the Conference. Sincerely, Bill Hendsbee
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