NCAA New Regulations

The NCAA has made major changes in college athletic eligibility requirements for DI and DII.  Prepare for these changes and protect your eligibility for college lacrosse. Blue Chip 225 Recruiting Showcases connect players and coaches at our summer sessions at UMass, Amherst, but all your hard work can come up short if you don't attend to the NCAA rules as they apply to academic eligibility, amateur standing and recruiting.   As part of our mission to help players and families achieve their goals, we have prepared these overviews of the NCAA rules and policies.  This holiday break is a great time to check out your eligibility status and be sure you're on track.  Don't get left out in the cold!  NCAA has made changes that could leave you all set to play college lacrosse but unable to be receive athletic aid or compete in your first year.    What It's All About . . .   The NCAA provides standards for eligibility for athletes to allow them to compete in college athletics and to receive DI and DII athletic scholarship funding.  Specifically, this means that you must take certain courses in high school and that you must achieve a specific level of academic success to compete in college sports and/or to receive an athletic scholarship.  That's not new.. but what IS new is the specific requirements and the levels of success required.  It is up to YOU  to know the rules and take the steps to meet the requirements. Get On The Right Track The key to NCAA eligibility is taking the right courses and enough of them.  That's right... To be eligible for college competition and athletic scholarships you MUST take a specific set of "core courses" each year starting in 9th grade.   Not only do you have to take the right courses but you also have to have a certain level of academic success as measured by a combination of your grade point average and your SAT/ACT scores. So, if you want to participate in DI or DII sports, or receive an athletic scholarship you have to be successful in the classroom in high school. Further, the rules are changing.  There is a new set of rules which applies to students entering college after August 1, 2016, so if you're not a senior this year, you have a new, more demanding, set of requirements.  Further, there are new rules for players entering DII programs in 2018 and after.  The first thing you have to do is to make sure that you meet the standards for your graduating class.   Getting Started  There are some key steps:  Make sure you're taking qualifying courses and enough total credits Be sure  your grades are as high as possible but at least above 2.3 At start of 10th grade register online at www.eligibilitycenter.com  At the end of 11th grade have an official transcript all of your high schools sent to the NCAA Eligibility Center In your junior year take the SAT and/or the ACT  Key Steps on the Way Make sure you're taking qualifying courses and enough total credits Be sure  your grades are as high as possible but at least above 2.3 At start of 10th grade register online at www.eligibilitycenter.com  At the end of 11th grade have an official transcript all of your high schools sent to the NCAA Eligibility Center In your junior year take the SAT and/or the ACT  Amateur Requirements You didn't play pro in high school, so you're all set... well, it's not quite that easy. If you want to play D1 or D2, in addition to courses and grade requirements, the NCAA must certify your amateur status.  When you complete your NCAA Eligibility Center registration you will be asked a number of questions.  Your amateur status will be assigned by the NCAA based on your answers, and any other information they may have.   What gets reviewed may include: Contracts with professional teams Salary for participating in athletics Prize money Play with professionals Tryouts, practice of competition with a professional team Benefits from an agent or prospective agent Agreement to be represented by an agent Participation in organized competition Financial assistance based on athletics skills or participation.  As you go through school, keep these requirements in mind.  You don't have to be playing major league lacrosse to lose your amateur standing.   Next time. . . Getting qualified academically and ensuring your amateur status may qualify you for connecting with colleges in DI and DII,  but at least as challenging is connecting with colleges.  The NCAA provides structure and rules for this process that you need to know.  We'll try to help make sense of how college lacrosse recruiting works in our next mailing.