In the last day or so, some decisions are coming into effect which are going to affect the way that college sports are administered. Not the least of which is going to be field hockey, which is going to have some new rules of its own going forward.
The major, overarching rule that is coming into effect is what is being called the “5 in 5” rule, which allows Division I athletes to compete in up to five competitive seasons in any scholarship sport under NCAA sanctioning, over a five-year period. That five-year clock starts with full-time university enrollment or the academic year following a player’s 19th birthday. This rule, passed by the Division I cabinet, eliminates redshirt seasons or waivers for extended eligibility with only a few exceptions.
Now, while redshirting is explicitly targeted in the new rule, it does not specifically address the process which is called “either “greenshirting,” which is when a graduating senior in high school enrolls in college the second semester of their senior year, meaning that player is participating in spring activities such as workouts and friendlies.
Presumably, the new regulations won’t affect field hockey or other fall sports which use greenshirting to allow incoming freshmen more than just the usual 16 days of training camp to get ready for their first collegiate varsity contest.
But, about that 16-day window for fall training. That window, thanks to another new NCAA rules change, will allow colleges to expand their preseason practices a full three weeks, or 21 days, before their first regular-season contest.
Another field hockey-specific rule change is to the transfer portal. The fall transfer portal has been moved to the 30-day period following the Tuesday following the NCAA Division I Tournament. That is certainly going to make Division I coaches extremely busy, having to staff fall tournaments like College Collection and the National Festival, as well as monitor the transfer portal for potential pickups.
You’re also going to see, potentially, more appealing matchups during spring field hockey. That month of the season sees teams playing local rivals — chiefly because teams are limited to ground transportation within 400 miles. That puts teams in virtual silos for spring hockey, especially teams in the far west and the midwest.
But a new rules change does away with the 400-mile ground restriction. This would allow, for example, a Stanford to schedule a team like North Carolina or Northwestern to come for spring hockey to match skills.
Another rules change does away with the restriction of one foreign trip every four years. I think that regulation could do two things for field hockey. One, it could create some appetizing competitions in foreign tours. Imagine, for instance, Northwestern playing against the Amsterdam Hockey & Bandy Club. Or if North Carolina took on Argentina’s Club San Martin. That would be valuable experience for the U.S. college system.
There’s one other possible beneficiary for the foreign competition rules change: Canada. The Canadian system has taken numerous hits over the last quarter-century as the number of college programs has shrunk. The allowance of American colleges to play foreign teams could yield matchups of, say, Cal-Davis against the University of Victoria, or Michigan State against the University of Toronto, or Maine against the University of Prince Edward Island.
Now, I’m not 100 percent sure whether any of these will come to pass, given the differing eligibility rules in each of the countries I mentioned in the above examples.
Wouldn’t it be fun to see a bump in the level of competition, though?