Students

High School Student-Athletes

According to Home Team Marketing, a company whose focus is on high school sports, over 19,000 high schools provide nearly 8 million young people the opportunity to participate in interscholastic sports, and more people attend high school sporting events than college and professional sports events combined.

While high school sports may provide some of your most memorable and enjoyable moments ever, there are standards that must be met in order to be eligible to compete. The essential eligibility requirements for each State are generally published in a State athletic association handbook, which should be available in the offices of your principal and athletic administrator and posted on the State athletic association website, i.e. State of California is at http://cifstate.org Your school district may also has the authority to establish additional academic standards and codes of student or athletic conduct. The eligibility standards cover such topics as transfer eligibility, amateur status, participation in camps and clinics, and recruiting. You cannot comply with the various standards unless you know what they are and how they have been interpreted by the State athletic association.

The Authority is your partner in the process. With a staff of attorneys well-versed in the eligibility standards across the country, we are available to ensure your initial and ongoing eligibility and help you through any issues that might arise during the course of your athletic participation.

College Student-Athletes

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules govern specific games, the conditions for institutional participation in the NCAA and its sanctioned leagues and championships, the recruitment and your participation in college sports, the consequences for breaching NCAA rules. The NCAA Manual, which is updated for each of the three divisions annually (and four times per year online), encompasses the rules for which member institutions and individuals are accountable.

The number and complexity of NCAA rules, and the possible consequences associated with their violation, have led most colleges to employ at least one full-time professional staff member and to establish an institution-wide infrastructure solely devoted to assuring up-to-date knowledge and compliance with NCAA rules. As an aspiring or current student athlete, you must attend to the rules as early as the ninth grade to be sure to achieve the necessary high school course work required to meet NCAA eligibility requirements.

The principles for the conduct of inter-collegiate athletics to which a student-athlete is bound include gender equity, sportsmanship and ethical conduct, sound academic standards, nondiscrimination, diversity within governance, rules compliance, amateurism, competitive equity, recruiting, eligibility, financial aid, playing and practice seasons, postseason competition and contests sponsored by non-collegiate organizations. NCAA rules will dictate the maximum number of official campus visits you may make; when, how often, and under what conditions you may be contacted by coaching staff; conditions for campus visits, including where you may eat and under what conditions costs will be covered for yourparents if they accompany you. If admitted, there will be conditions on summer school attendance and summer sport participation, when you must declare a major, the number of courses you must take to remain eligible and permissible sources of financial support as you pursue your degree. Once on campus, your coaches will be responsible for certain rules, including when, how often, and for how long the team practices, and the number of contests in which you will participate. Violations of the rules can adversely affect your eligibility and that of your school.