Medical Documentation Standards for Waivers
In some cases a student-athlete’s injury or illness may not be diagnosed as incapacitating immediately and the student-athlete will attempt to continue competing after the initial injury or illness. Some competition by the student-athlete following the date of the injury or illness does not automatically preclude the opportunity for a medical hardship waiver. As long as the requirements of Bylaw 14.2.5 are met and the institution provides at least the required documentation described above, the applicable Division II conference or student-athlete reinstatement staff may grant the hardship waiver even if some competition occurred following the date of the initial injury or illness. The key is that the documentation from a treating physician confirms that, ultimately, the injury or illness was incapacitating and prevented the student-athlete from participating in competition beyond the legislated limits. 3. Length of Incapacitation. The purpose of this requirement is to verify the opportunity for the injured student-athlete to resume competition within the championship season was medically precluded. There are two ways to demonstrate this requirement has been met.
A 5
6
Estimated length of incapacitation 7 or recovery time range contained within the original contemporaneous medical documentation; AND Contemporaneous documentation 8 of follow-up doctors’ visits (within the estimated time range) in which studentathlete is not cleared to resume playing.
B Estimated length of incapacitation or recovery time range contained within the original contemporaneous medical documentation; AND Treatment logs or training room notes (indicating continuous rehabilitation efforts).
It is the hope of the committee and the student-athlete reinstatement staff that this memorandum will assist you in processing hardship waivers as a conference office as well as provide insight into the approach undertaken by the student-athlete reinstatement staff when handling hardship waivers for independent institutions or considering whether a student-athlete was medically precluded from participating during an entire season for purposes of an extension request submitted by member institutions. SS:taa cc: Selected NCAA Staff Members
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