Can someone explain redshirting to me

im d3 but love the sport wrote:

A quick background before I get bombarded with the "why are you redshirting if you are D3?" comments.

I ran for 3 years in high school but never cared for being competitive in high school let alone college. After realizing I loved the sport more than anything, the summer before my senior year I trained as hard as I could and put up some respectable times for the amount of training I did but were not super impressive.

Fast forward to right now, I am enrolled at a very prestigious school that is D3 and I am in contact with the distance coach. I was unable to join the team during XC and indoor track for reasons unrelated to running, so I decided to redshirt the outdoor season so I have a full year to run in graduate school. The coach is on board with it and sends me the workouts.

My problem is that balancing school work and track might be unmanageable as I get older so I had an idea that might work. Would it be possible for me to redshirt an extra year or two and then after I receive my degree from my graduate school, take part-time classes at a cheap D1 school and compete for their team with however many remaining seasons I have left?

Is this a way to keep my NCAA eligibility without sacrificing my education?

Sliding Scale wrote:

Above is correct, 5 years to compete 4 times in all three seasons.

To add to his explanation...your 5 year clock begins once you enroll full time in a post secondary institution (regardless of your athletic status). Also, if you do not enroll in college after high school, your 5 year clock begins one year after your high school graduation regardless of enrollment status moving forward (this second part may not be a rule for D3). Only a few exceptions can stop this clock (military service and church missions are the two exceptions I am aware of).

Collegiate athletics is a limited window, and not meant for post graduates who are approaching 30. Chances are if track and field is not enough of a priority for you to participate in now it won't be a few years down the road either. When you are 25 you are not going to want to hang out with 19 year old college students. Imagine, your friends are starting careers getting married and moving on with their lives and your trying to have the college experience you missed out on as an undergrad.

If it is that important to you then join the team. At no point in your life will running in a program be more accessible, and if it is not that important to you that is OK, but this is the best opportunity.

Sliding Scale wrote:

Above is correct, 5 years to compete 4 times in all three seasons.

To add to his explanation...your 5 year clock begins once you enroll full time in a post secondary institution (regardless of your athletic status). Also, if you do not enroll in college after high school, your 5 year clock begins one year after your high school graduation regardless of enrollment status moving forward (this second part may not be a rule for D3). Only a few exceptions can stop this clock (military service and church missions are the two exceptions I am aware of).

Collegiate athletics is a limited window, and not meant for post graduates who are approaching 30. Chances are if track and field is not enough of a priority for you to participate in now it won't be a few years down the road either. When you are 25 you are not going to want to hang out with 19 year old college students. Imagine, your friends are starting careers getting married and moving on with their lives and your trying to have the college experience you missed out on as an undergrad.

If it is that important to you then join the team. At no point in your life will running in a program be more accessible, and if it is not that important to you that is OK, but this is the best opportunity.