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According to the Frequently Asked Questions page at the official NCAA site, the term is used to describe "a student-athlete who does not participate in competition in a sport for an entire academic year." A redshirted player can practice, but can't compete against other teams. In the United States, all college athletes are eligible for only four years of competition. Even if you come onto the field in the last five minutes of a soccer match, you've used up a year of competition eligibility. Freshmen are often redshirted in order to get familiar with a team and improve their game. If a player is badly injured towards the end of a season, he or she may decide to redshirt the next year. Where does
the phrase come from? We aren't sure. We are sorry to report that the majority of our search requests resulted in Star Trek fan sites. Apparently any minor character who is sent down into hostile alien territory and killed is commonly referred to as a "redshirt" amongst Trekkies (or Trekkers). In the Navy, redshirts are the folks that load and unload weapons, artillery, and other equipment from military airplanes. Regardless, athletic redshirts don't have to wear red shirts at games. They just have to clap and slap behinds.
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