🌟 What’s New This Quarter 🌟

🚨 First-ever Post-Grad Internship at the NCAA Sport Science Institute.

🚨 Changes to the NCAA Drug-Testing Medical Exception Process.

🏥 Division III Mental Health First Aid Program.

📚 Updated SSI Resources.

🏈 NFL and NFLPA 2025 helmet laboratory testing performance results.

🎥 SSI Spotlight on Mental Health During Transitional Periods In and Out of Sport now available.

📝 NCAA health and safety related reporting reminders.

🚨 Now open: The first-ever post-grad internship at the NCAA Sport Science Institute! 🚨

The NCAA Sport Science Institute is thrilled to offer its first post-graduate internship position!

Learn more

🚨Changes to the NCAA Drug-Testing Medical Exception Process🚨

Assigning Permissions for Medical Exception Pre-Approval and Continued Use Requests through RSRO.

As requested by the membership, additional access options for medical exception pre-approval (MEPA) and continued-use requests have been added to the NCAA's Requests/Self-Reports Online (RSRO). The new options allow schools to limit access to sensitive information by user. Specifically, schools can limit a user’s access to “medical cases only” or prohibit a user’s access to medical cases.

Please note, to add access to medical exception cases in RSRO, the single-source sign-on administrator must update settings to provide a specific user with medical case access.

More information, including tutorials for updating access and submitting medical exceptions, can be found here.

🏥 Division III Mental Health First Aid Program

Earlier this year, the NCAA Division III engaged with National Council for Mental Wellbeing to provide fully funded Mental Health First Aid training to NCAA Division III schools with a focus on head coaches and athletic trainers. Division III athletics directors and athletic trainers can request a training here.

MHFA, an early intervention and prevention program that teaches individuals how to identify, understand and respond to signs and symptoms of mental health or substance use, is also included in the NCAA Mental Health Best Practices as a resource for membership consideration.

Learn more

📚 Updated SSI Resources

Nutrition

Two nutrition fact sheets were revised in coordination with the American Sports and Performance Dieticians Association and the Sports and Human Performance Nutrition Organization.

👉 Making Good Choices While Eating on the Road

👉 Eating Frequency for the Student-Athlete

NCAA Drug-Testing Resources

On behalf of the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports, the NCAA Sport Science Institute released the annual updates to the following NCAA drug-testing and drug education efforts:

👉 2025-26 NCAA Drug-Testing Manual (for athletics administrators).

👉 2025-26 NCAA Drug-Testing Fact Sheet (for student-athletes).

👉 NCAA Drug-Testing Program.

Harm-Reduction Considerations for Gambling and Sports Betting in Collegiate Sports

The NCAA Sport Science Institute recently published a new resource that discusses harm-reduction strategies in the context of gambling and sports betting in collegiate sports and provides relevant resources. The information provided is a result from discussions of the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports.

Consensus Recommendations to Inform NCAA Mental Health Best Practices published in BJSM

An article outlining the consensus process used to inform updates to the NCAA Mental Health Best Practices was published in the March 2025 issue of the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

👉 Access the British Journal of Sports Medicine article.

👉 Access the NCAA Mental Health Best Practices.

🏈 NFL & NFLPA 2025 Helmet Laboratory Testing Performance Results

The National Football League, in collaboration with the National Football League Players Association and their appointed biomechanical experts, released the 2025 helmet laboratory testing performance results, which are included here.

Of note:

To learn more about health and safety topics specific to the NFL, NFL Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Allen Sills, provides a periodic newsletter where he shares insights on the ongoing efforts to advance NFL player health and safety. More information is available at this link.

NCAA Playing Rules
NCAA Football Playing Rules mandate that all football helmets must be certified by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE). The NFL and NOCSAE use different helmet testing methodologies. Further, the Virginia Tech Varsity Football Helmet Ratings use criteria that differ from both NOCSAE and the NFL and produce findings that do not align with the NFL results.

Although there is no definitive rating system for football helmets, the NCAA remains committed to the NOCSAE football helmet performance standard. Every member school should also consider establishing institutional policy to ensure annual NOCSAE certification and reconditioning, as appropriate, for all football helmets. While the NFL’s laboratory testing results should not be extrapolated to collegiate football, schools may determine if and how to integrate the testing results into their evaluations of their helmet inventories.

🎥 SSI Spotlight on Mental Health During Transitional Periods In and Out of Sport

This session concentrates on student-athlete mental health during transitional periods in and out of sport. Periods of transition—whether entering, navigating, or exiting collegiate sports—can increase the risk of psychological distress among athletes.

👉 Access the SSI’s YouTube channel.

🗓 Key NCAA attestation deadlines for 2025

Ensure compliance with NCAA regulations by noting these critical attestation dates coming up this year.

November 7, 2025:

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