NJCAA Membership, We are all
navigating uncharted waters carefully and
cautiously as the last four days have been
extremely trying for all involved, but we are
committed to providing a safe and feasible
plan of action to all NJCAA members across the
country. At this time, we have postponed the
Division I and Division II men’s and women’s
basketball championships with a tentative
start date of April 20th. All four hosts will
make the appropriate accommodations to work
with the association to provide the most
beneficial opportunities for our
student-athletes. There are calls set up with
the chairs for Monday, March 16th with both
divisions and genders of basketball to discuss
the necessary rule adjustments and
accommodations. A follow-up call with the
athletic directors of all participating teams
will occur on Thursday, March 19th.
After reviewing and evaluating
all of the feedback and information from our
membership and regional leadership, the NJCAA
is suspending all competition beginning
Saturday, March 14th through Friday, April
3rd. The NJCAA Board of Regents will meet on
April 3rd as previously scheduled and an
update from the National Office will be
provided with a full assessment of the
national landscape. Should conditions improve,
regions and individual colleges will be
allowed to resume regular season competition
in a format and time period following April
3rd that has been approved by the region.
During this entire “no competition” period,
practice standards are determined by the
individual colleges.
The NJCAA is also extending
the date of April 3rd to April 10th for
colleges to evaluate their seasons for
potential hardships that fall under the 60.0%
of the season completion ruling. These
scenarios will greatly vary by sport. The
deadline only applies to those CANCELLING
their seasons of which individuals have
already participated prior to the cutoff date
of April 10th. It is very important to note
that Dr. Parker has discussed this and in the
past, an official ruling from the National
Office has accompanied all student-athletes as
appropriate documentation of a hardship. The
NAIA and NCAA are having active conversations
regarding the same concerns of their own
student-athletes’ current eligibility. In this
case, any student-athlete that falls under
this blanket has a full commitment from the
NJCAA National Office that his or her
eligibility will remain intact as an NJCAA
student-athlete for an additional season.
At the same time, these
situations create a sense of uncertainty on
future classes of Letter of Intent signees. To
alleviate these concerns, the NJCAA National
Office will present an increase in the number
of allowable Letter of Intents for all spring
teams for the 2020-2021 season to be vetted by
the Eligibility Committee and officially
approved by the Board of Regents at the April
3rd board meeting. This will apply to all
programs, regardless if your institution
competed in the spring. As an association, we
understand there is no equitable way to
increase for some, but not for others. If your
region or institution has other rules in
place, we simply ask that you inform them of
the allowable increases if approved for the
2020-2021 signing class due to the mitigating
circumstances of possibly returning a number
of sophomores that are currently enrolled.
The NJCAA respects and values
the decisions of each individual college and
region to make the best appropriate decision
necessary. We are fully committed to hosting
spring national championships should the
current situations improve. We will work with
each district to make sure a pathway is
clearly provided to all spring national
tournaments and adjust accordingly.
Again, our goal is to look
after the safety and security of all involved,
while also providing a pathway to allow our
student-athletes to compete for national
championships in which they have worked so
hard for.
Yours in sport,
Dr. Christopher J.
Parker NJCAA President & CEO |