No athlete wants to sit out a year of competition during their collegiate career, but it’s the nature of college athletics.

It’s know as redshirting, the delay of an athlete’s participation in order to lengthen his or her period of eligibility.The NCAA allows student-athlete’s five academic years to complete and four years of sports eligibility.

This is a common theme for many student-athletes at Chico State.

Greg Clink, men’s basketball head coach, has been known to redshirt freshmen athletes to get them accustomed to the college life. He said there are a variety of reasons to redshirt an athlete, whether it’s for academics, to grow physically or mentally as a player, or due to injury.

‘We see a tremendous amount of growth and maturity in student-athletes that redshirt,” he said. “They gain strength, confidence and an improved skill set. It is amazing how much they grow mentally and physically from the experience.”

Athletes who are designated to take a redshirt year still get to take part in all team activities, including practices, weight training, conditioning and study halls. However, they are not allowed to travel with the team.

Peter Wajda, a redshirt freshman on the Wildcats men’s soccer team, sat out last season after beginning his career recovering with a torn ACL.

“I was able to focus on my academics,” he said. “I was able to stay in town and use the resources the campus had to offer to make sure I got off to the right start academically.”

Jordan Semple, a forward on the men’s basketball team, saw huge physical improvements from sitting out his freshman season in 2010.

Although Semple didn’t know he was going to redshirt before he decided to sign with the ’Cats, he was happy with the results.

“I gained 15-20 pound of muscle during the year off and saw great improvements in my basketball skills,” Semple said.

The decision is usually the coach’s, although Clink has had players come up to him in the past with the idea of sitting out a season because they see the benefits it will have on their game.

“I will say that a majority of all of the guys we have that have redshirted look back on the experience and know it was a great thing for their development,” Clink said.

Greg Silvia can be reached at [email protected] or @theorion_sports on Twitter.