Here are a few NCAA Rules That May Affect You
You become a “prospective student-athlete” when you start the ninth grade; however, you
are not considered a “recruited prospect” until a college makes some type of recruiting
contact with you.
Generally, recruiting contacts are not allowed until you become a senior. Any personal visit, by phone or in person, is considered a recruiting contact. Colleges may make one phone call to you during a specified time during your junior year, depending on your sport. You may contact the NCAA web site for these times
College “questionnaires” are not considered a recruiting contact. You may receive
questionnaires anytime, even as a freshman. If you are a good prospect, you should have
received many questionnaires from colleges by the time you are a senior.
You may make up to five official visits (The college pays all expenses) during your senior
year.
You may make as many unofficial visits (You pay all expenses) to colleges as often as
you wish.
You can make these visits and talk to the coaches, personally, even before you
become a senior. This is not considered a recruiting contact.
You may send a personal e-mail to a college coach at anytime. Coaches are allowed to
send personal letters and e-mails to prospects once the prospect becomes a junior in high
school.
NCAA Division lll colleges can’t offer athletic scholarships. However, these colleges may
actively recruit you for their athletic program. They are allowed to give you up to the full cost of your college expenses provided this aid is based on need and not your athletic ability. Oftentimes, the offer made by a non-scholarship Div. lll college is better than the offer made by a Div. l or Div. ll scholarship college.
In football and basketball there are certain restricted times when coaches can attend
practices and games to evaluate you. In all other sports these evaluations can occur
anytime except during specified dead periods, provided the college has an adequate
recruiting budget and staff.
Academic eligibility for college sports is based on SAT or ACT test scores and on your GPA in your core courses. You must have a certain number of credits in specified core courses to be eligible for college athletics. The requirements for NCAA Div. l are different from the requirements for Div.ll.
There is no such thing as a “full-ride four year scholarship”. Scholarships are offered for one year only and must be renewed each year. If you become academically ineligible or if you use or get involved in drugs in any way, your scholarship will not be renewed.
Almost all colleges have a “walk-on” policy. This simply means that you have the opportunity to try-out for the team but you are not on scholarship. Many schools have excellent walk-on programs and if an athlete proves his value to the team then a scholarship is often awarded to the athlete. Some colleges also have what they call “invited walk-on’s”. These are usually players that the college was very interested in but just did not have any scholarships left to offer. These players generally receive special attention just like the scholarship players. This is often a very good option, provided the player can compete equally with the scholarship players.
For more information about NCAA rules click here:
NAIA schools and Junior Colleges have their own rules and do not operate under NCAA
rules and guidelines.
What's the difference between NCAA Divisions I, II and III?
Division IDivision I member institutions have to sponsor at least seven sports for men and seven for
women (or six for men and eight for women) with two team sports for each gender. Each playing season has to be represented by each gender as well. There are contest and participant minimums for each sport, as well as scheduling criteria. For sports other than football and basketball, Div. I schools must play 100% of the minimum number of contests against Div. I opponents -- anything over the minimum number of games has to be 50% Div. I. Men's and women's basketball teams have to play all but two games against Div. I teams, for men, they must play 1/3 of all their contests in the home arena. Schools that have football are classified as Div. I-A or *I-AA. I-A football schools are usually fairly elaborate programs.
Div. I-A teams have to meet minimum attendance requirements (17,000 people in attendance per home game, OR 20,000 average of all football games in the last four years or, 30,000 permanent seats in their stadium and average 17,000 per home game or 20,000 average of all football games in the last four years OR, be in a member conference in which at least six conference members sponsor football or more than half of football schools meet attendance criterion. Div. I-AA teams do not need to meet minimum attendance requirements. Div. I schools must meet minimum financial aid awards for their athletics program, and there are maximum financial aid awards for each sport that a Div. I school cannot exceed.
Division II
Division II institutions have to sponsor at least four sports for men and four for women, with two team sports for each gender, and each playing season represented by each gender. There are contest and participant minimums for each sport, as well as scheduling criteria -- football and men's and women's basketball teams must play at least 50% of their games against Div. II or I- A or I-AA opponents. For sports other than football and basketball there are no scheduling requirements. There are not attendance requirements for football, or arena game requirements for basketball. There are maximum financial aid awards for each sport that a Div. II school must not exceed. Division II teams usually feature a number of local or in-state student-athletes. Many Division II student-athletes pay for school through a combination of scholarship money, grants, student loans and employment earnings. Division II athletics programs are financed in 12 the institution's budget like other academic departments on campus. Traditional rivalries with regional institutions dominate schedules of many Division II athletics programs.
Division III
Division III institutions have to sponsor at least five sports for men and five for women, with two
team sports for each gender, and each playing season represented by each gender. There are
minimum contest and participant minimums for each sport.
Division III athletics features student-athletes who receive no financial aid related to their athletic ability and athletic departments are staffed and funded like any other department in the university. Division III athletics departments place special importance on the impact of athletics on the participants rather than on the spectators. The student-athlete's experience is of paramount concern. Division III athletics
encourages participation by maximizing the number and variety of athletics opportunities
available to students, placing primary emphasis on regional in-season and conference
competition.
* Division I-AA applies to football only. No other sport has a division I-AA
What is Gender Equity / Title IX
"No person in the United States shall on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."
Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 to the 1964 Civil Rights Act An athletics program can be considered gender equitable when the participants in both the men's and women's sports programs would accept as fair and equitable the overall program of the other gender. No individual should be
discriminated against on the basis of gender, institutionally or nationally, in intercollegiate athletics.
NCAA Gender-Equity Task Force
What is a redshirt?
Redshirt Definition
The term "redshirt" is used to describe a student-athlete who does not participate in competition in a sport for an entire academic year. If you do not compete in a sport the entire academic year, you have not used a season of competition. For example, if you are a qualifier, and you attend a four-year college your freshman year, and you practice but do not compete against outside competition, you would still have the next four years to play four seasons of competition. Each student is allowed no more than four seasons of competition per sport. If you were not a qualifier, you may have fewer seasons of competition available to you.
Any competition, regardless of time, during a season counts as one of your seasons of
competition in that sport. It does not matter how long you were involved in a particular
competition (for example, one play in a football game, one point in a volleyball match); you will be charged with one season of competition.
Who is the NCAA?
The NCAA, or National Collegiate Athletic Association, was
established in 1906 and serves as the athletics governing body
for more than 1,300 colleges, universities, conferences and
organizations. The NCAA is committed to the student athlete
and to governing competition in a fair, safe, inclusive and
sportsmanlike manner.
Membership:
• 1,300 Colleges and Universities
• 400,000 Student Athletes
• 23 Sponsored Sports
• 331 Division I
• 291 Division II
• 429 Division I
Click here see how many athletes played high school sports in 2008-2009.
Click below to see the NCAA's calendar of contact dates
Click here to see when you can sign for your sport
Time treats everyone equally; so the question becomes, how do you treat time?
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