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LU Policy Number: SP.008
Effective Date: 08/01/23
Approval Date: 09/07/2023
Revised Date: N/A
Purpose: To comply with new NAIA legislation regarding mandated student-athlete weekly day- off from athletic-related activity.
Additional Authority: N/A
Scope: Student-athletes, Department of Athletics
Approval Authority: N/A
Responsible Authority: Athletics
Recipients: N/A
Publications: N/A
Definitions: Definitions contained within the policy
Policy Title
Student-Athlete Day-Off Policy
Policy Statement
Purpose
The Life University Department of Athletics, in accordance with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) will adhere to a mandatory “Day-Off” policy once per week during the academic year, which will be designated by the Head Coach of the respective sport. At Life University, we value our student-athletes’ wellbeing and for this reason we uphold the “Day-Off” policy as an avenue for student-athletes to focus on their overall experience at this institution.
Definitions
Student-athlete: A student enrolled at Life University who participates in or is eligible to participate as recognized by the team roster in any intercollegiate athletic program. A person who is permanently ineligible to participate in a particular intercollegiate athletic program is not a student-athlete for the purposes of this policy. A student-athlete who is temporarily ineligible due to grades, violation of policies, etc. is still defined as a student-athlete for day-off policy purposes.
Practice: A practice is any activity organized and/or directed by any member of the coaching staff in which either (a) appropriate equipment is used or (b) instruction and/or evaluation of the athlete takes place.
A Week: As stated by the NAIA, a week is defined as Monday (12:00am) through Sunday (11:59pm) within a seven-day period of practice and competition.
Medical Checks: Evaluation by healthcare professional (i.e., athletic trainer) to determine extent of an injury, immediate next steps in recovery, and to provide a rough estimate of current status to coaching staff.
Therapeutic Exercise/ Rehabilitation: Physical activity prescribed to correct impairments, restore muscular and skeletal function and/or maintain a state of well-being. Used to treat or prevent injuries and improve functional outcomes.
Treatment/Recovery: The use of modalities and therapies to reduce soreness, muscle fatigue, increase range of motion, promote healing, and reduce the risk of injury.
Life University Guidelines
All student-athletes at Life University will receive one mandated day off from athletics-related activity which will be designated by the Head Coach of the respective sport. Each Head Coach is responsible for communicating the “Day-Off” policy with their student-athletes at the first team meeting of the academic year. Life University Athletics will include the “Day-Off” policy in the student-athlete handbook, located on the athletics department webpage.
Athletics-Related Activity:
• Practice
• Competition
• Required weight training or conditioning activities held at the direction of or supervised by an institutional staff member.
• Physically taxing activity
• Mandatory discussion or review of game films
• Mandatory lecture on or discussion of strategy related to the sport Permissible activities during the rest day include:
• Therapeutic Exercise/Rehabilitation
• Medical Checks
• Student-Initiated athletic activity (No attendance taken. Student-Athletes are not required to report back to Strength &Conditioning coaches, ATCs, Team Managers or Coaches. No member of the coaching staff present).
• Treatment/Recovery
• Meeting with coaches or athletics department staff members on non-athletic matters (i.e., academics, compliance, eligibility, etc.)
• Team Entertainment Activities (i.e., leadership training and/or team building activities). Physical components may be incidental to the activity but should be kept to a minimum.
• Traveling to/from competition
• Mandatory study hall
• Team-related community service activities
An exemption will be granted to this policy at the conclusion of the regular season, in which case the team is not required to take one day off per week for the duration of the team’s inclusion in the postseason, beginning with the week of the first approved postseason competition.
Monitoring/Enforcement
The department of athletics acknowledges the fluidity of a regular season and understands that days off may be executed at different times than are originally scheduled.
Grievances in relation to the Day-Off policy will follow the standard grievance procedures as outlined in the student-athlete handbook. The singular difference from the standard grievance procedure specific to this policy is that any escalation to a department administrator will go to the Assistant Athletic Director for Internal Operations, as opposed to the Director of Athletics.
Procedure(s)
N/A
Other Notes
N/A
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