What Are Redshirt Athletes?

The term "redshirt" can be confusing to understand at first but once you understand what it is used for the meaning seems to make much more sense. College athletes go to college planning on a full workload in the classroom plus a full workload in athletics. Most of these athletes don't have enough time in a day to take enough classes in order to graduate in four years. With a master plan to graduate in five years coining the phrase, "5th year senior," it makes it a perfect opportunity for an athlete to redshirt his or her freshman year.

When an athlete redshirts it just means that they sit out of competition for a year without losing a year of eligibility. The athlete can practice and is expected to practice as long as they don't compete in any official games or competitions. An athlete does not sign a contract at the beginning of the year saying they will redshirt, the coach or athlete themselves have the option to play at any point throughout the season. However if an athlete competes in 1 play throughout the entire season will lose that year of eligibility.

A medical redshirt can also be given to an athlete who has been injured during a year and will not be able to compete in the following years season. In this case the player must sit out the entire season even if the injury gets better before the season is over. If that player decides to play after the injury is better he will lose his redshirt and lose a year of eligibility.

The use of redshirts is a common practice in college sports because of the fierce competition and the fact that new freshman coming in simply can't compete with the upper class man who have had a chance to master the game. Also taking a year to learn the system of the team and to gain some weight or muscle mass in the process. The process of redshirting has helped make many athletes more successful and given them a better chance to make a career out of their sport. The first redshirt was in 1937at the University of Nebraska and it has come a long way since then, being used for many different reasons along the way.