Navigating NCAA Amateurism Rules: A Comprehensive Guide for Student-Athletes

For student-athletes aspiring to compete at the NCAA Division I or DII level, understanding and adhering to amateurism rules is paramount. These regulations, while sometimes complex, are crucial for maintaining eligibility and ensuring a fair playing field. This article aims to provide a comprehensive overview of NCAA amateurism, covering key principles, certification processes, and recent developments.

What is NCAA Amateurism?

At its core, NCAA amateurism dictates that student-athletes cannot receive payment for their athletic performance. This principle, however, has evolved significantly since the NCAA's inception. The definition of amateurism within the context of collegiate sports has evolved since it was first pronounced by the NCAA upon its inception in 1906. Over the course of the 20th and early 21st century, regulatory changes, court claims, and the beliefs of NCAA authority about student-athlete compensation further developed what an amateur collegiate athlete is entitled to receive. The NCAA views student-athletes as students first, not as professionals or employees of their member schools. Thus, student-athletes are not currently monetarily compensated (Murphy & Pace, 1994).

The 2011-2012 NCAA Manual states the mission of the NCAA is to protect student-athletes “from exploitation by professionalism and commercial enterprises”. However, the landscape has been changing, especially with the introduction of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals.

The NCAA Eligibility Center and Amateurism Certification

To be eligible to compete and receive a scholarship as an NCAA athlete, you must meet the definition of an amateur athlete in addition to minimum academic requirements. The process of evaluating an athlete’s eligibility as an amateur athlete happens within the Eligibility Center/Clearinghouse. Athletes complete a set of questions about the teams they have participated on and, based on the answers, the NCAA will determine your eligibility.

Requesting Amateurism Certification

NCAA DI or DII college-bound student-athletes enrolling in the Fall can request their Amateurism Certification starting April 1 before their collegiate enrollment. The first step in requesting an NCAA Amateurism Certification is to register with the NCAA Eligibility Center online at www.eligibilitycenter.org. Before requesting final amateurism certifications, students must verify that their graduation and enrollment dates in their account are accurate and complete (including payment or fee waiver). The enrollment date must reflect the term they plan to first enroll at any NCAA school. Student-athletes and families are not able to upload their high school transcripts to the NCAA Eligibility Center. Instead, they must ask their High School Counselor to upload it for them.

Completing the Amateurism Questionnaire

After registering with the NCAA Eligibility Center, you must complete the amateurism questionnaire. Honest Insight: Students should revisit all questions in the Sports section of their account before requesting final amateurism. Choose the sport for which you are requesting an Amateurism Certification. The next step is to verify your sports participation information. You will not be able to change your information, once you request your final Amateurism Certification.

This questionnaire gathers information about your sports participation history and any compensation or benefits received. Key areas covered include:

Athletic Participation: Team name, contact information, league affiliation, dates of participation, number of contests played, and a list of the expenses you received.
Compensation Beyond Expenses: Whether you received any money beyond actual and necessary expenses as part of your participation with the listed organizations.
Team Member Compensation: Whether any of your team members received money beyond expenses.
Participation Agreements: Whether you signed any type of agreement to participate on any of your teams. Be prepared to show a copy of the agreement.
Professional Team Affiliations: Whether any of the teams called themselves professional.
Agent Agreements: Whether you have a written or verbal agreement with an agent or agency.
Agent Benefits: Whether you or your family have ever accepted any money from an agent or agency.
Advertisements and Promotions: Whether you have ever been involved in an advertisement or promotion.
Prize Money: Whether you have ever accepted prize money based on your place or finish and, if so, how much. If you are a tennis player you can accept up to $10k/year. For any other sport, you are not allowed to accept any money beyond the cost of participating (including travel).
Recruiting Influence: How you learned about the school(s) recruiting you and who contacted you and encouraged you to attend this university.
Recruiting Services: Whether you or someone representing you ever used a recruiting service or another individual to help you find an institution or aid in finding an athletic scholarship.

Providing Additional Documentation

Depending on your responses to the amateurism questionnaire, you may be required to submit additional documentation to support your amateurism status. This could include things like bank statements, tax returns, employment contracts, or educational records.

Certification Status Categories

The NCAA utilizes different certification status categories for student-athletes based on their amateurism status. These certification status categories are used to help ensure that student-athletes are maintaining their amateur status and are eligible to compete at the NCAA level while also meeting academic requirements. These include:

Final certified: The NCAA has made a final decision, declaring you eligible pending an academic review. This status means you are cleared as an amateur athlete (at this time) and no further review is scheduled. In other words, you are cleared and pending your academic status, you are an NCAA-eligible athlete.
Final certified with conditions: Before you are eligible to compete, you will need to meet specific requirements laid out by the amateurism committee. This is a best-case scenario for athletes with rules violations.
Final not certified: You are not considered an amateur athlete and are not eligible to compete or receive a scholarship at the NCAA level.
Incomplete web entry: The NCAA is not able to determine your status because you have not competed the questionnaire.
Not applicable: If you are competing at the DIII level or for certain sports, you will not have your amateurism reviewed. An Amateurism Certification is not required for your sport at this division level.
Pending review: If something in your questionnaire raised questions, the amateurism committee will take a deeper look. You will see this status while they review your case.
Preliminary certified: If your account has been reviewed and cleared, but you haven’t requested final amateurism certification, this is your status. This means you are on your way to being eligible and will simply need to wait until the end of you high school career.
Preliminary certified with conditions: You will be eligible after you complete certain tasks laid out by the committee.
Preliminary not certified: You will not be eligible.
Suspended review: If you were in the process of being reviewed, but the school requesting your amateur status has dropped you as a recruit, the NCAA will stop reviewing your case. If you are not being currently recruited by an NCAA DI or DII school, the NCAA will stop reviewing your case, even if the review was already in process. In this scenario, contact the coach or school that was recruiting you and find out what happened.
Preliminary Reviewed: A preliminary review of your amateurism status has been conducted.

Common Amateurism Violations

Understanding potential pitfalls is crucial for maintaining amateur status. Some common violations include:

Read also: Crafting Your NCAA Profile

Receiving compensation exceeding actual and necessary expenses: The NCAA does allow athletes to receive some compensation as an amateur athlete, as long as the amounts do not exceed what are deemed actual and necessary expenses. Some athletes are asked to join travel teams in which their cost is covered by the team (this would be allowed).
Endorsing commercial products or services: This is one of the more difficult areas to interpret.
Accepting prize money beyond actual/necessary expenses: It is not illegal for a potential NCAA athlete to have competed in professional competition. However, if they are eligible to win prize money, it cannot exceed the amount more than the necessary expenses.
Involvement with Agents: Not all contracts with agents are illegal, but you should be extremely wary of signing an agreement and seek the advice of an NCAA expert before signing. Accepting money from an agent or agency is almost always a clear violation. You may be allowed to give the benefits back and be eligible but, to be safe, always avoid taking anything from an agent.
Improper Benefits: Sometimes, the language used by the NCAA is a bit confusing or ambiguous regarding what is and isn’t allowed. For example, receiving “improper benefits” implies that there are “proper benefits” that student-athletes can receive.

The Evolving Landscape: NIL and Amateurism

In recent years, the landscape of college athletics has been shifting, particularly concerning student-athlete compensation. The introduction of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals has allowed student-athletes to profit from their personal brand while maintaining their amateur status. However, student-athletes with approved Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals are still able to participate in the NCAA and are not considered professionals.

O'Bannon v. NCAA

In the recent O'Bannon v. NCAA case, the allegation is in regards to student-athletes having an income level of zero for the use of their public likeness; the allegation is that the NCAA is in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act due to the restriction of payment to student-athletes for their public likeness.

The Fair Pay to Play Act

A bill has been proposed in California for student-athletes to profit off their image and likeness from endorsements without losing their athletic scholarship or eligibility. It is Senate Bill 206 (SB 206) or the Fair Pay to Play Act. State Senators Nancy Skinner and Steven Bradford introduced the bill. The bill will allow student-athletes in the state of California to use their platform and sport to make their own money. It also allows student-athletes to hire attorneys or agents for any business deal without losing their scholarship or eligibility. Governor Newsom signed this into law on September 30, 2019. It will go into effect in January 2023.

NAIA NIL Rules

In October 2020, the NAIA began allowing athletes to capitalize in the emerging market for college athletes on names, images and likenesses. Chloe V. Mitchell, a volleyball player at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was one of the first collegiate athletes to create, post, and monetize her brand on social media. Known as the “She Shed” maven, she has also co-founded the NIL platform Playbooked, in which she launched her first promotion, called D.I.Y.-A Gift for Dad. In the video, she promotes two different kinds of golf putters that her company has partnered with. Bundling her skills through creating new environments, she “activates” the golf partnership by designing an in-home miniature golf course.

Northwestern University Case

One of the most notable challenges to the concept of amateurism began at Northwestern University in 2013. A group led by Northwestern Quarterback Kain Colter and Ramogi Huma, executive director of the freshly formed College Athletes Players Association (CAPA), set out to advocate for the rights of the modern college athlete. At the center of the debate was whether or not NCAA student-athletes should be classified as employees of the university.

Resources and Staying Informed

The NCAA Eligibility Center is an effective, necessary resource for prospective student-athletes to take advantage of. Sometimes, the language used by the NCAA is a bit confusing or ambiguous regarding what is and isn’t allowed. If you’re unsure if something is allowed, or may make you ineligible, ask. There’s no harm in waiting. No prospective student-athlete should be left behind for these sorts of mistakes.

Amateurism vs. Professionalism

An amateur athlete used to be defined as someone who participated purely for the love of the sport and did not expect compensation for athletic performance. The USOC has modified its nonprofessional agenda, however, and actually endorses professionals to participate in its Olympic events. However, the NCAA continues to refuse to allow athletes to be paid for their services as athletes other than scholarships.

NCAA Divisions

Membership in the NCAA is Divided into Division III, Division II and Division I, the largest division and the one that offers the most scholarships to athletes. Each sport has its own rules and limits the number of scholarships in a given sport. Sports such as football and basketball are characterized as “revenue” sports while soccer, gymnastics, track and field, and other sports are considered “non-revenue sports.”

Letter of Intent

Division I, Division II and NAIA athletes are the beneficiaries of athletic scholarships (more specifically referred to as grants-in-aid). They sign an agreement with the college or university in the form of a letter of intent, which is a binding agreement between the athlete and an institution. This agreement provides that in exchange for the athlete’s services in their sport, they will have tuition, room and board, and books paid for by the institution. However, no financial compensation may be awarded to athletes in exchange for their athletic talents in that particular sport.

tags: #ncaa #amateurism #rules #explained