Pop Fly is a junior softball student-athlete at Ocean State University (OSU). Pop was injured last year and was told by her doctors that with the severity of the injury, she is unable to ever practice or compete in intercollegiate athletics again. The coaches want to help Pop finish her degree, so they have designated her as an undergraduate student coach. Pop used to also play volleyball when she was younger, so she approached OSU’s volleyball coaches and asked if she could also serve as an undergraduate student coach for the volleyball team.
Which of the following is true?
A. Pop can serve as an undergraduate student coach in the sport of volleyball
B. Pop can serve as an undergraduate student coach in the sport of softball
C. Pop can serve as an undergraduate student coach in either sport
D. Pop cannot serve as an undergraduate student coach in either sport.
The answer is B. NCAA Staff Interpretation-9/29/14- Undergraduate Student Assistant Coach in Other Sports (I)– states that a student-athlete who has exhausted his or her eligibility or has become injured to the point that he or she is unable to practice or compete ever again, but whose five-year period of eligibility has not expired, may serve as an undergraduate student assistant coach only in the sport in which he or she participated at the institution. If the student-athlete’s five-year period of eligibility has expired, he or she may serve as an undergraduate student assistant coach in any sport at the institution where he or she most recently participated in intercollegiate athletics.
[Reference: NCAA Division I Bylaw 11.01.4 (undergraduate student assistant coach)]
