In the year 2020, many peoples lives were impacted in a huge way by a virus that completely blindsided the world. Amateur athletes were not able to dodge these same consequences. I am a current third year Junior College baseball player. My sophomore season along with many opportunities to go on to play at an NCAA D1 was stripped from me last year due to the pandemic. So I have seen first hand what these new rules our doing to the athletes under their enforcement. Across all sports there were many challenges faced. Championship seasons lost, scholarships pulled, and roster turnover. We understand in times so difficult there are seldom decisions available that can benefit everyone and there is no single party to appoint all the blame. With that said however there has been a mistake made recently by the Division 1 council in the NCAA. This council chose to prohibit in-person recruiting until the 15th of April 2021. 

The NCAA D1 council is underestimating the importance of in person recruiting. No face-to-face recruiting means, no scouts at games, no official visits, and inevitably less opportunity for high school and junior college athletes. It goes without saying that such a rule can potentially harm the futures of many potential NCAA athletes. Kids who have aspired and worked to become athletes at one of the highest levels of their respective sports pulled away by a council too far separated from the game to understand what it means to us. For most Spring and Winter sports, a great deal of recruiting is done from January to April. For NJCAA baseball players that is approximately half of our season. In a normal year that would be a time frame where most of the sophomores (last year of JUCO) on the team would've been receiving scholarships from multiple schools. With the dead period having been extended, every schools' window of opportunity is being affected dramatically. This does not just impact Baseball either. Sports such as Softball, Basketball, wrestling, and many more will miss out on a great deal of opportunity for their athletes' futures with the current dead period in place. 

As an organization designed for the people of amateur sports, We believe the NCAA has an obligation to listen to the voices of the people it serves. The NCAA should allow the in person recruiting to be fully available to all students and coaches who choose to participate. The athletes of high school and college sports will benefit a great deal from repealing this dead period. The athletes and coaches understand the health risks that are present with COVID-19 still spreading, but we would also like for our futures to be in our own hands and not decided by a council that has failed to see the work invested into our respective sports and the negative impact such a dead period may have upon us. There has to be a better solution to the COVID crisis, than what has currently been provided. We ask that the NCAA puts forth an alternate solution and allows for a more normal contact period this upcoming Spring. 

Sincerely,

Former, current, and future NCAA athletes and the loved ones who support us