NCAA Bylaw 17.02.1 Countable Athletically Related Activities
The following are considered countable athletically related activities and must be counted in the
weekly or daily time limitations specified under Bylaw 17.1.5.1:
(a) Practice, which is defined as any meeting, activity or instruction involving sports-related
information and having an athletics purpose, held for one or more student-athletes at the
direction of, or supervised by, any member or members of an institution’s coaching staff.
Practice is considered to have occurred if one or more coaches and one or more studentathletes
engage in any of the following activities:
(1) Field, floor or on-court activity;
(2) Setting up offensive or defensive alignment;
(3) Chalk talk;
(4) Lecture on or discussion of strategy related to the sport;
(5) Activities using equipment related to the sport;
(6) Discussions or review of game films, motion pictures or videotapes related to the sport,
except for the observation of an officiating clinic related to playing rules that is conducted
by video conference and does not require student-athletes to miss any class time to observe
the clinic; or
(7) Activities conducted under the guise of physical education class work (e.g., any class
composed of or including primarily members of an intercollegiate team on a required
attendance basis or where the class utilizes equipment for the sport);
(b) Competition;
(c) Required weight-training and conditioning activities held at the direction of or supervised by
an institutional staff member;
(d) Participation in a physical-fitness class (including a summer class) conducted by a member
of the athletics staff, unless such a class is a regular physical education class listed in the
institution’s catalog and open to all students. Such a class may not include practice activities
conducted under the guise of physical education class work;
(e) In sports other than football, participation outside the institution’s declared playing season in
individual skill-related instructional activities with a member of the coaching staff and that
occur at the request of the student-athlete (see Bylaw 17.1.5.2.1);
(f) In individual sports, participation outside the institution’s declared playing season in
individual skill-related instructional activities with a member of the coaching staff, except for
individual-workout sessions during the summer that occur at the request of the studentathlete;
(g) Required participation in camps, clinics or workshops;
(h) Individual workouts required or supervised by a member of the coaching staff, except for
those sports subject to the safety exception. A countable coach may design a voluntary
general individual workout program for a student-athlete (as opposed to a specific workout
program for specific days) but cannot conduct the individual’s workout. It shall be
permissible for strength and conditioning coaches, during vacation periods (e.g., summer), to
design and conduct specific workout programs for student-athletes, provided such workouts
are voluntary and conducted at the request of the student-athlete. Such workouts shall not be
considered a countable athletically related activity when conducted by strength and
conditioning coaches who are not countable coaches and who perform such duties on a
department-wide basis.
(i) On-court or on-field activities called by any member or members of a team and confined
primarily to members of that team that are considered as a requisite for participation in that
sport (e.g., captain’s practices);
(j) Visiting the competition site in the sports of cross country, golf and skiing;
(k) Use of an institution’s athletics facilities when such activities are supervised by or held at the
direction of any member of an institution’s coaching staff. Facilities may be reserved for
such use during the academic year. It is not permissible to reserve facilities during the
summer, except to participate in permissible individual workouts in individual sports at the
request of the student-athlete(s). In the event the use of an institution’s facilities is requested
by a team composed partly of enrolled student-athletes and partly of individuals not
otherwise affiliated with the institution, use of the facilities shall be consistent with the
policies established for outside groups generally; and
(l) Involvement of an institution’s strength and conditioning staff with enrolled student-athletes
in required conditioning programs. During the academic year, strength and conditioning
personnel may monitor, supervise or assist voluntary individual workouts for safety
purposes. If the strength and conditioning coach also is a countable coach, such assistance
may be provided only if that strength and conditioning staff member performs such duties on
a department-wide basis. During vacation periods (e.g., summer), strength and conditioning
coaches who are not countable coaches and who perform such duties on a department-wide
basis may design and conduct specific workout programs for student-athletes, provided such
workouts are voluntary and conducted at the request of the student-athlete.
Do we have any lawyers on this board?