Rules for all USIAA Junior Varsity (JV) Sports:
Junior Varsity (JV) sports teams are essentially a combination of a varsity & club team that have the following characteristics:
- Are sponsored by both the athletic & recreation departments
- Allow all university students, staff, and faculty regardless of age to get together regularly to learn a new sport or activity, or continue playing a sport they love.
- Any student that attends the University can try out for the varsity/JV team with a valid physical (graduate students included).
- All JV programs are required to practice & scrimmage with the varsity players for the entire season.
- Players are only allowed to play on the JV team for 6 years while also being given a chance to play for the varsity team as a walk-on at any time (example s = injury or academic ineligibility) during those 4 years (in addition to being eligible for athletic scholarships for D1 & D2 programs only):
a) The only exceptions are 1) redshirt athletes and 2) the service academies (and their respective preparatory schools), who can play all 7 years of eligibility.
b) At the start of each season, all of the former JV players from the previous season no longer eligible to play plus a select few current players are invited for a two-week tryout with the varsity team.
c) All players who fail to meet the academic requirements are automatically required to be relegated to both the practice squad/JV team and academic probation until the player(s) in question manage to raise their GPA. - All players with at least 1 year of JV experience who fail to make the varsity team may do any of the following:
a) Transfer to another institution (& also be eligible for athletic scholarships for D1 & D2 programs only); If this happens, they can redshirt & play JV immediately again with the opportunity to play varsity at any time
b) Become part of a separate coaching staff for the JV team with the approval of the varsity coaching staff (i.e. an undergraduate or graduate assistant coach).
c) However, all JV programs may also have a max of 3 designated "club" players who fail to make the varsity roster after the 2-year period in addition to the main JV players, but they are not allowed to tryout for the varsity team. - All red-shirt athletes are required to play at least 1 year of JV sport (baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, ice hockey, MMA, soccer & softball only with the exception of the military academies) with no loss of varsity eligibility:
a) i.e., All varsity programs are required to have all their redshirted players on the active JV roster for all JV games during the regular season, but may also have their practice squad players on the varsity roster as well.
b) All D3 schools in addition to all D1 & D2 schools that refuse to offer athletic scholarships in the aforementioned sports must have a JV schedule.
c) All D4 schools cannot have any official JV sports sponsored by their varsity teams, but they can have club teams. - All JV teams are coached by any of the following:
a) Assistant varsity coaches who are given the opportunity to gain head coaching experience while still fulfilling their assistant duties on the varsity levels,
b) A separate staff working to help develop the JV players into varsity players, or
c) A combination of both. - All programs have unlimited substitutions for JV games.
- All programs can only play any of the following:
a) Other in-state JV teams (including upper & lower-division teams, except for D4.
b) In-region JV teams (also includes the varsity program's former NCAA/NAIA/etc. conference affiliations as well).
c) D4 teams (i.e., community colleges & junior colleges).
d) All service academies & senior military colleges must also play their respective preparatory school or designated senior military college rival at least twice (1h/1a).
e) Designated senior military college rivals: 1) The Citadel & University of North Georgia, 2) Norwich University & Texas A&M University, & 3) Virginia Military Institute & Virginia Tech. - All the JV teams must play all of their home games in the varsity program's stadium either:
a) At least 3 hours before the varsity games take place.
b) When the varsity team is away. - There are no overtime periods in JV games; all games will count as ties if the game is tied at the end of regulation.
- The JV team with the best record in each state at the end of the JV season will automatically be crowned the JV state champion:
a) i.e. The Supporter's Shield; unless there is only 1 JV team in the state; It echoes the practice of the top European soccer leagues in which the team with the best record is the champion.
b) However, all JV teams sponsored by the athletic department are also eligible for all of the club championships.
c) All JV teams are not eligible for the varsity D4 championships. - Tryouts for the JV teams occur every year at least 6 weeks prior to the beginning of each sport's season; All students willing to tryout for the JV team may pay a minimum $50 tryout fee to help fund the JV team:
a) The fees are to help sponsor the team for costs (i.e. uniforms, equipment, 50% of travel and lodging) in addition to the non-official JV post-season tournaments sponsored by the respective club organization sponsoring the tournament (example = the National Club Basketball Association or NCBBA for basketball); The teams who don't charge the fee will not be eligible to play in the club tournament.
b) Tryout fees for Football = at least $75 & Ice Hockey = at least $125.
c) All tryouts / JV athletes may use their own gear if they wish, as long as as the gear meets USIAA regulations.
d) example of football tryouts (2019 Virginia Tech season) = tryouts starting on July 20 in relation the August 31 Boston College game. - Registration for the tryouts occur at different points for different sports:
a) Spring Sports (examples = Baseball & Softball) = the last week of class before the final exams week in the fall semester.
b) Winter Sports (examples = Basketball, Ice Hockey, MMA, & Skiing) = the first week of class in the fall semester.
c) Fall & Year-Round sports (examples = Cross Country, Football, Golf, Rugby, & Soccer) = the last full week of class before the final exams week in the spring semester.
d) The registration for all sports must take place on the university's athletic website to allow incoming HS students a fair chance to make the team.
e) A max of 110 potential athletes can be allowed to tryout for the varsity/JV teams for all sports each year. - All programs can only play any of the following:
a) In-conference JV teams (also includes the varsity program's conference affiliations as well); in this instance, the JV athletes will travel alongside the varsity athletes).
b) Other in-state JV teams (including upper & lower-division teams, except for D4).
c) In-state D4 teams (i.e. community colleges & junior colleges).
d) Other JV teams that are within 350mi / 365km of the program in question (including club teams).
e) Sprint football teams that are within 350mi / 365km of the program in question (football only). - Types of walk-ons:
a) Preferred = either recruited by coaches & not offered athletic scholarship or already enrolled at the university but receiving any sort of academic financial aid.
b) Regular = already enrolled at the university, but not receiving any sort of academic financial aid