Acting for the Division I Management Council, the Division I Legislative Review/Interpretations Committee issued the following interpretations:

Inclusion of Scrimmages and Exhibitions in Hardship Waiver Calculation. Scrimmages and exhibitions may be excluded from the hardship waiver calculation only if specific provisions for such contests exist in the sport’s playing and practice season regulations. [Reference: NCAA Division I Bylaw 14.2.4.]

Official National Team Tryouts and the National Team Exception to the Outside Competition Regulation. For a student-athlete to use the U.S. National Team exception to the outside competition regulations to participate as a member of an outside team in an official national team or junior national team tryout, the official tryout must be one in which athletes are directly selected to a national team or are required to participate in order to qualify for a subsequent event from which participants will be named to a national team or junior national team that will represent their nation in international competition. The exception is applicable to an official tryout that is structured as a series of events in which athletes must participate in each event (or at least one event in each level) of the series to be selected to the national team. The exception does not apply to events in which athletes are identified only for further evaluation at unrelated events for a future national team.

For example, the exception applies to an official tryout in which athletes must participate in event A to participate in event B (or in one of several events at the event A level to participate at the event B level), and participants in event B are selected to the national team that will participate in international competition; however the exception does not apply to participation in event A if athletes are not selected to the national team or if participation in event A (or other events on the same level) is not required for participation in event B. [References: NCAA Bylaws 14.7.3.1-(d) (U.S. National Team) and 30.8.1 (national-team criteria).]

Definition of a Tournament. In sports other than basketball, for purposes of Bylaw 17 legislation related to maximum-contest or date-of-competition limitations, a tournament is an event that culminates in the determination of a winner. A tournament may be conducted in round-robin, pool play or bracket formats. [References: NCAA Division I Bylaws 17.1.5.1.1 (Exception — Golf Practice Round), 17.3.5.1 (Maximum Limitations — Institutional), 17.3.5.2 (Maximum Limitations — Student-Athlete), 17.6.5.1 (Maximum Limitations — Institutional), 17.6.5.2 (Maximum Limitations — Student-Athlete), 17.11.5.2 (Annual Exemptions), 17.12.5.1.1 (Tournament Limitations), 17.21.5.2.1 (Tournament Dates), 17.22.5.1 (Maximum Limitations — Institutional), 17.22.5.2 (Maximum Limitations — Student-Athlete), 17.25.5.1 (Maximum Limitations — Institutional), 17.25.5.2 (Maximum Limitations — Student-Athlete), 17.26.5.1 (Maximum Limitations — Institutional), 17.26.5.1.2 (Individual Singles or Doubles Tournament Limitations — Institutional), 17.26.5.1.3 (Participation in Tournament Played under the Team Tennis Format — Institutional), 17.26.5.2 (Maximum Limitations — Student-Athlete), 17.26.5.2.1 (Individual Singles or Doubles Tournament Limitations — Student-Athlete), 17.26.5.2.2 (Individual Singles or Doubles Team Tennis Tournament Limitations — Student-Athlete), 17.28.10 (Once-in-Four-Years Exemptions — Certification Required), and 17.28.14.1.1.2 (May 1 Exception — Women’s Volleyball).]

Credit-Hour Requirement for a Student-Athlete Enrolled in Post-Baccalaureate or Graduate Program. A student-athlete enrolled in a second baccalaureate degree or graduate program must successfully complete six degree-applicable hours to satisfy the requirement of completing six semester or quarter hours of academic credit during each regular academic term of full-time enrollment. Further, a non-degree-seeking graduate student may complete credits that would apply to any graduate-degree program offered by the certifying institution to satisfy the six-hour requirement. [Reference: NCAA Division I Bylaws 14.4.3.1-(c) (fulfillment of credit-hour requirements) and 14.4.3.5-(c) (exceptions to progress-toward-degree rule — nonrecruited, nonparticipant).]

Application of "Legal Resident" to Involvement with a Local Sports Club. For purposes of the application of the local sports clubs legislation, a prospective student-athlete who relocates to within a 50-mile radius of an institution on a temporary basis (for example, to participate on a club team or attend an institution while maintaining a permanent residence outside of the 50-mile radius) is not a "legal resident of the area" of the institution regardless of whether the prospect meets a legal standard of state or local residency for governmental purposes. Therefore, an institution’s coach may not be involved with a local sports club team in the coach’s sport that includes such a prospect. [References: NCAA Division I Bylaw 13.11.2.3 (local sports clubs).]