ncaa-manual

17.02.12.2 Individual Sports. [#] The following are classified as individual sports for purposes of this bylaw:(Revised: 1/17/09 effective 8/1/09, 1/15/11 effective 8/1/11)Bowling, Women’sRifleCross CountrySkiingEquestrian, Women’sSwimming and DivingFencingTennisGolfTrack and Field, Indoor and OutdoorGymnasticsWrestling17.02.13 Voluntary Athletically Related Activities. In order for any athletically related activity to beconsidered “voluntary,” all of the following conditions must be met: (Adopted: 4/18/01)(a) The student-athlete must not be required to report back to a coach or other athletics department staff member(e.g., strength coach, trainer, manager) any information related to the activity. In addition, no athleticsdepartment staff member who observes the activity (e.g., strength coach, trainer, manager) may report backto the student-athlete’s coach any information related to the activity;(b) The activity must be initiated and requested solely by the student-athlete. Neither the institution nor anyathletics department staff member may require the student-athlete to participate in the activity at any time.However, it is permissible for an athletics department staff member to provide information to student-athletesrelated to available opportunities for participating in voluntary activities (e.g., times when the strength andconditioning coach will be on duty in the weight room or on the track). In addition, for students who haveinitiated a request to engage in voluntary activities, the institution or an athletics department staff membermay assign specific times for student-athletes to use institutional facilities for such purposes and inform thestudent-athletes of the time in advance;(c) The student-athlete’s attendance and participation in the activity (or lack thereof) may not be recorded for thepurposes of reporting such information to coaching staff members or other student-athletes; and(d) The student-athlete may not be subjected to penalty if he or she elects not to participate in the activity.In addition, neither the institution nor any athletics department staff member may provide recognition orincentives (e.g., awards) to a student-athlete based on his or her attendance or performance in the activity.[Note: Coaching staff members may be present during permissible skill-related instruction pursuant to Bylaws17.1.6.2.2 and 17.1.6.2.3] (Revised: 4/29/04 effective 8/1/04)17.02.14 Student-Athlete Discretionary Time. [FBS/FCS] Student-athlete discretionary time is timeduring which a student-athlete may only participate in athletics activities at his or her discretion. There shall beno required workouts and institutions are not permitted to recommend that student-athletes engage in weighttrainingor conditioning activities; however, if the student-athlete opts to work out, the strength and conditioningcoach may monitor the facility in use for health and safety purposes. (Adopted: 4/24/03 effective 5/1/03)17.02.15 Tournament—Sports Other Than Basketball. In sports other than basketball, for purposesof maximum contest or date of competition limitations, a tournament is an event that culminates in the determinationof a winner. A tournament may be conducted in round-robin, pool play or bracket formats. (Adopted:9/18/07)17Playing Seasons17.1 General Playing-Season Regulations.17.1.1 Playing Season. The playing (practice and competition) season for a particular sport is the period oftime between the date of an institution’s first officially recognized practice session and the date of the institution’slast practice session or date of competition, whichever occurs later. An institution is permitted to conduct officiallyrecognized practice and competition each academic year only during the playing season as regulated for each sportin accordance with the provisions of this bylaw. The institution must conduct the same playing season for varsityand subvarsity teams in the same sport. (Revised: 1/10/92)17.1.1.1 Playing Season—Athletically Related Activities. The playing (practice and competition) seasonfor a particular sport is the only time within which a member institution is permitted to conduct countableathletically related activities (see Bylaw 17.02.1) except as set forth in Bylaws 17.1.6.2 and 17.9.6. However, acoaching staff member may engage in coaching activities with a student-athlete during the student-athlete’s participationin events listed in Bylaws 16.8.1.1-(a) and 16.8.1.1-(b). (Revised: 4/28/05 effective 8/1/05)17.1.2 Segments of Playing Season. For all sports other than football and basketball, each member institutionmay divide the playing season into not more than two distinct segments. (Revised: 1/10/91 effective 8/1/91,1/14/97 effective 8/1/97)17.1.2.1 Exception—Severe Inclement Weather. An institution may temporarily discontinue a segmentdue to severe inclement weather (e.g., hurricane, snowstorm), and restart the discontinued segment provided thepermissible overall length of that segment is not exceeded. An institution that uses this exception is required toannually submit a detailed summary to the NCAA national office by July 31. (Adopted: 4/28/05)229