A. “Hardship” is defined by NCAA regulations as “an incapacity resulting from an injury or illness,” provided that certain criteria set forth by NCAA regulations are met. Such incapacity may include a female athlete’s pregnancy. A student-athlete will not be charged with the loss of that season of competition eligibility by the conference or the Academics / Eligibility / Compliance Cabinet if all the following criteria are met:
1. The incapacitating injury or illness occurs in one of the four seasons of intercollegiate competition at any two-year or four-year collegiate institution or occurs subsequent to the first day of classes in the student-athlete’s senior year of high school;
2. The injury or illness occurs prior to the completion of the first half of the playing season that concludes with the NCAA championship in that sport and results in incapacity to compete for the remainder of that playing season; and
3. The injury/illness occurs when the student-athlete has not participated in more than two contests or dates of competition (whichever is applicable to that sport), or 20% (whichever number is greater) of the institution’s scheduled contests or dates of competition in his or her sport. Only scheduled competition (excluding exhibition contests and scrimmages) against outside participants during the playing season that concludes with the NCAA championship, or, if so designated, during the official NCAA championship playing season in that sport (e.g., spring baseball, fall soccer), is countable in calculating the number of contests or dates of competition in which the student-athlete has participated and the number of scheduled contests or dates of competition during that season in the sport.