College 5 Year Limit On College Nationals

I wonder why they decided to make their eligibility rules around how many championships one has participated in instead of years in school.

tntdynomite said:

I wonder why they decided to make their eligibility rules around how many championships one has participated in instead of years in school.

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Other sports give you a flat number years of eligibility. It's no different. If you want to include grad school in eligibility, you can basically be in grad school forever.


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tntdynomite said:

I wonder why they decided to make their eligibility rules around how many championships one has participated in instead of years in school.

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They also have no real way to track someone's schooling but do with championships participated.

PS - I got one year left. Booyahkasha!


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King said:

They also have no real way to track someone's schooling but do with championships participated.

PS - I got one year left. Booyahkasha!


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LOL, I guess I have 5 years, but I don't want them! I can't keep up anymore.

They already make the registrar and AD sign off on how many classes each cheerleader is enrolled in. It would be nothing for them to add another column on the form asking for the year in school for each cheerleader. I think even getting the registrar to sign off and limiting eligibility is a good start towards legitimizing cheerleading.
IDK, you don't see any (or many, I really don't know) 26+ year olds playing any sport in the NCAA, NAIA or any other collegiate sports association. Once they hit 5 years of school they are done, it doesn't matter if they played a sport for any of the years. It just makes since to me for eligibility to work that way if we are going to add that requirement.
I also wish they would add another requirement that all collegiate sports associations have-a minimum GPA. Students should be in college first and foremost for their education and if Varsity is going to start putting sanctions on eligibility I think that is a good one.

Ashley said:

Other sports give you a flat number years of eligibility. It's no different. If you want to include grad school in eligibility, you can basically be in grad school forever.


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But if you take four years for a bachelors and 2 for a masters, you would only be eligible for that one year of grad school. You can stay in grad school forever, but you are done playing collegiate sports. If I'm a cheerleader and I don't compete I don't lose any of my years. So I could still be 30 and competing if I choose to do so later. I think if they are trying to look legitimate to NCAA or whoever the eligibility rule needs to be for years, not championships.

tntdynomite said:

But if you take four years for a bachelors and 2 for a masters, you would only be eligible for that one year of grad school. You can stay in grad school forever, but you are done playing collegiate sports. If I'm a cheerleader and I don't compete I don't lose any of my years. So I could still be 30 and competing if I choose to do so later. I think if they are trying to look legitimate to NCAA or whoever the eligibility rule needs to be for years, not championships.

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Right, but that's how NCAA sports are too. You have 4 years of eligibility, but it doesn't matter how long you've been in school.


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Ashley said:

Right, but that's how NCAA sports are too. You have 4 years of eligibility, but it doesn't matter how long you've been in school.


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No, NCAA is not set up the same as they are trying to set up cheer.

tntdynomite said:

But if you take four years for a bachelors and 2 for a masters, you would only be eligible for that one year of grad school. You can stay in grad school forever, but you are done playing collegiate sports. If I'm a cheerleader and I don't compete I don't lose any of my years. So I could still be 30 and competing if I choose to do so later. I think if they are trying to look legitimate to NCAA or whoever the eligibility rule needs to be for years, not championships.

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NCAA eligibility is done off years you play. Hence red-shirting or grad school athletes who do play.

tntdynomite said:

No, NCAA is not set up the same as they are trying to set up cheer.

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What do you mean, what the difference between 4 years or 5? We don't have a season like other sports so all they can count for us is nationals.

I mean, obviously we're not set up like an NCAA sport, but the premise is the same. I'm not sure we're arguing different things here, but I'm not sure what you're arguing.


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King said:

NCAA eligibility is done off years you play. Hence red-shirting or grad school athletes who do play.

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Ashley said:

What do you mean, what the difference between 4 years or 5? We don't have a season like other sports so all they can count for us is nationals.

I mean, obviously we're not set up like an NCAA sport, but the premise is the same. I'm not sure we're arguing different things here, but I'm not sure what you're arguing.

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I'm not trying to argue . The point I was trying to make is in NCAA D1 they have a five year rule that starts when the student starts college full time. Once those five years are up they are up and you don't get any more regardless of if you played sports or not (with some exceptions like military).
In D2 and D3 they have the 10 semester rule, which can be paused by withdrawing from classes.
This cheerleading rule is just 5 national championships and it has nothing to do with how long someone has been in school. That's the main difference I was referring to. I can be on my 12th year in school, but if I have competed in less than 5 national cheer championships then I am eligible. That wouldn't fly in any other collegiate sports organization. Years an athlete plays is part of determining their eligibility, but grades and years/semesters spent in school is just as important, if not more so.

I personally like it. Do you think that more elite squads will place people (especially guys) on sideline cheer until they are ready?

It takes a while for guys to really develop these elite skills.

Just a thought and curious to responses.

SparkleSpankies said:

I personally like it. Do you think that more elite squads will place people (especially guys) on sideline cheer until they are ready?

It takes a while for guys to really develop these elite skills.

Just a thought and curious to responses.

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I absolutely think they will. That's what I would do.

tntdynomite said:

I'm not trying to argue . The point I was trying to make is in NCAA D1 they have a five year rule that starts when the student starts college full time. Once those five years are up they are up and you don't get any more regardless of if you played sports or not (with some exceptions like military).

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You technically only get 4 years unless you redshirt a year. That is where 5th years come from. You cannot play 5 years of a college sport unless there was a redshirt year in there somewhere. (Be it from an injury, transferring, sitting out your freshman year, etc) Your clock doesn't automatically start when you enroll. It depends on when you actually get out there to play. (ie not redshirting). But to get that 5th year you must completely sit out a season. The NCAA can also grant 6th years in extenuating circumstances (mostly due to injuries)