College Volleyball Redshirt

Is there a drop dead point during a season where a coach must declare a SA a "redshirt"?  If the SA plays one point in a match is the "redshirt" option off the table? POTUS



Yes but Redshirt'ing is viewed in two ways:

1)  Pre-determined redshirt means that the coach/player go into the season with the thought or plan that the SA will redshirt.  This means that if the player plays one point in a match, at anytime during the traditional season, then they have used one year of eligibility.  A traditional redshirt tends to occur when a freshman or sophomore has a senior or two in their playing position, and the coach does not want to 'waste' a year of eligibility just for some random playing time.  These situations are talked about either before the fall practice starts, or at the very latest, during the pre-season training.

2)  Medical or Injury redshirt - This is where a player suffers a season ending injury. The injury must occur before the halfway point of the season, and before the player has played in approximately 30% of the matches.  This usually equates out to about 6 -7 matches of play.  The tough situation is when the player is a starter, plays in 10 or so matches before the halfway point, then has an injury and can't play the remainder of the season, they still can't redshirt.

The redshirt rules do allow for competitive participation in the non-traditional or spring season.

I will say that the 5th year senior is Golden (like in Antonia Greenwood) - These players will have a physical and mental maturity level which is noticeable.  Teams with a couple of 5th year seniors, if they have not burnt out, can be very good because of all the leadership and mentoring they bring to the squad.