Howard Community College

Welcome from the Athletic Director

Dear Student-Athlete,
Welcome to Howard Community College! We are happy you have chosen to continue your athletic and academic career as a member of the Dragon Athletics Family!
This handbook can be used as a tool through your athletic career here at HCC. We are here to help you manage your academic and athletic responsibilities and obligations as a student-athlete.
Success at any level starts and ends with YOU to prepare and prevail. HCC provides a healthy atmosphere and environment to learn and grow as an individual and athlete.
Please use the tools and resources available on campus to help you achieve success both in the classroom and competition.
Play here, Get there!

Sincerely,

Mike Smelkinson

Director of Athletics


Eligibility

All athletes must complete the following items in order to be eligible for participation. These forms can be printed from the athletic website, https://howardccdragons.com or will be given to you by the coach at the first team meeting.
    • Eligibility Documents: These include the Affidavit, Assumption of Risk and Release, Amateurism, and student-athlete Code of Conduct. These can all be found on our website under Eligibility Documents.
    • Physicals: Student-athletes must have completed and submitted all medical forms to the Athletic Trainer. You are unable to practice until the physical form is turned into the trainer. The physical form can be found on our website under Eligibility Documents.
    • High School Transcript: Have all official high school transcripts with graduation date brought into the athletic office.
    • International Students: All international students must have their high school transcripts translated to English. HCC and the NJCAA uses Incred for all translations. https://www.incredevals.org/students/ Please see the Assistant Athletic Director to help guide you through this process.
    • Medical Insurance: You may not participate in any practice or game without medical insurance on file. If you do not have medical insurance, you can obtain government insurance by going to www.marylandhealthconnection.gov

The NJCAA has established requirements for participating student-athletes to follow to maintain eligibility status. These requirements are:
    1. Must be a high school graduate or have received an equivalency diploma or passed a GED.
    2. All athletes must register for a minimum or 12 credits (unless there is a documented learning disability).
        a. If there is a documented learning disability, the student-athlete must meet with the Assistant Athletic Director to go through the process.
    3. During the first full-time semester, students must pass six credit hours with a minimum GPA of 2.00.
    4. For 2nd season of competition, the student-athlete must pass a minimum of 24 semester hours and obtain a 2.0 GPA or higher.

Academics Resources at Howard Community College

ADMISSIONS AND ADVISING OFFICE
Athletes are a part of the Cohort which gives them the opportunity to register for classes before other students. This takes places during Athlete Advising Week. This will ensure you get into the necessary courses that will not conflict with scheduled practice times and games.

ACADEMIC AND CAREER SERVICES
Academic Support Services assists students in becoming more successful learners, and in continuing and completing their studies. Services offered range from free tutoring, academic counseling/advising, study skills workshop, and services to students with disabilities. HCC offers academic support programs that offer additional assistant for students looking for one-on-one and small group support.
    • Howard P.R.I.D.E- Award-winning, life-enhancing mentorship and support for Black male students.
    • LAC (Learning Assistance Center)- Provides academic support services to all credit students enrolled at HCC who wish to become more successful, efficient, and independent learners.
    • Step-UP program- One-on-one support for managing the challenges of college and life.
    • TRIO program- Provides customized academic support to students who are low-income, first-generation college students or have documented disabilities.
    • Ambiciones- A supportive community designed to meet the unique needs of Hispanic/Latino students.
    • Transfer and Completion- We prepare students to transfer to four-year colleges and universities to earn their bachelor's degrees. No matter where you want to go, our academic advisors can help you get there from here.

Student-Athlete Policies

Student-Athletes must remember they are representatives of Howard Community College and are in the public eye more so than other students. Student-athlete could face discipline and even dismissal for violations of the team, department, HCC and/or NJCAA policies.
There will be no destruction of HCC property or any property where the team travels. There will be no acts of hazing which is defined as any act causing any situation which recklessly or intentionally subjects a student to the risk of bodily injury or endangers the mental or physical health or safety of a student for the purpose of initiation or admission in a student organization.

Student-Athlete Code of Conduct
Participation in HCC's intercollegiate athletic program comes with the responsibility of abiding by the rules and regulations of the NJCAA, Region 20, and MD JUCO, as well as the policies and procedures of HCC. The student-athlete code of conduct can be found in our Eligibility packet. The student handbook for HCC is available on the HCC website.

Sexual Misconduct(Title IX)- HCC prohibits and will not tolerate sexual misconduct. HCC recognizes that sexual misconduct damages the integrity of the educational institution, destroys the institution's positive work and educational atmosphere.
More information on Title IX at Howard Community College and the grievance process can be found at HCC Title IX Information.

Social Media- Please keep the following in mind as you participate in social networking:
• It is impermissible to student-athletes to post information, photos, or other representations of sexual content, inappropriate behavior (e.g., drug or alcohol use), or items that could be interpreted as demeaning or inflammatory.
• Comments on social media about other athletes' injuries, rosters, coaches, playbooks, officiating, or any other team is prohibited.
• Avoid posting offensive or inappropriate language, pictures, videos, or comments.
• Student-athletes are not permitted to initiate communication with a prospective student-athlete because of the prospective student-athlete's recruitment at HCC.

Policy on Student Concerns about Athletic Programs
Students can share concerns about HCC's athletic programs and activities. The entire policy can be read on HCC's Consumer Page.

General Athletic Procedures

School ID: All students athletes must have a current issued Student ID card to enter the facilities during the year. You must show your ID card to gain admittance to athletic facilities and events.
Home Games: Uniforms will be arranged in the team room for distribution. After games, uniforms will be put into a laundry basket located in the team room. The uniforms will be washed, recorded, and stored by college personnel.
Away Games: Jersey bags will be packed by staff to be given out to athletes at game sites. After the game the uniforms will be collected and stored in the jersey bag. If driving to an away game by yourself a Waiver of Responsibility Form must be filled out.
Game Day: All athletes must be on time for home games and departure times for away games. Inform your professors if you will be a missing a class period or leaving early due to a competition. Excuse letters are available from the Athletic Center. This is the responsibility of each student-athlete to communicate with professors in advance of missing a class.
Athletic Trainer: The athletic trainer (ATC) is a nationally certified professional, trained to prevent, evaluate, and treat injuries of athletes. Our ATC arrives 1.5 hours before scheduled practices and games and will stay 30 minutes after each event. If injured at a practice or game, you must be evaluated by the trainer.
Practice: If class conflicts with practice, athletes must remain in class during the scheduled class time. You cannot miss class for a practice. Athletes who cannot make a practice need to inform their coach ahead of time. All athletes are expected to be respectful to all issued equipment and to their facility as well as all staff in the department and around campus.

ADDENDUM ESPORTS

Our Esports team is not sanctioned by the NJCAA and fall under a different set of rules. To be eligible for participation you must be enrolled in a minimum of 12 credit hours per season with accumulative 2.0 GPA. The following is a list of rules for our Esports Arena.
    • Only roster players are allowed in the Esports room unless direct permission is given by the coaching staff.
    • NO food is allowed in the Esports room.
    • All Howard CC sports equipment is to always stay in the room. Violators of this rule will be held financially responsible for missing equipment.
    • All gaming stations should be returned to its original state after usage including the area around the computers.
    • It is MANDATORY to be respectful of people, equipment, and the environment, including excessive noise.
    • Anyone found to be breaking these rules will face disciplinary action by the coaching staff.

Intercollegiate Athletics Department Affiliations

NJCAA- The National Governing Body of Junior and Community Colleges
This organization rules all two-year colleges in the United States. Located in Charlotte, NC, this governing body provides all the rules that govern athletics at a two-year college.
www.njcaa.org

Howard Community College
Howard Community College (HCC) is a member of the NJCAA, Maryland Junior College Athletic Association (MDJUCO), and Region XX.
www.howardcc.edu

Maryland Juco
The Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference exists to govern and conduct championships for the conference's 16 varsity sports. Chartered in the late 1960's, the conference is composed of 16 Maryland community colleges competing in a variety of varsity intercollegiate athletics. www.mdjuco.org

Region 20
Howard Community College is a member of Region XX of the NJCAA. Region XX has 26 members from Maryland, Western PA, Northern VA.
www.regionxx.org