NCAA Eligibility | Compliance, Rules and Regulations
The final part of our Eligibility series will cover the more overlooked topics that are still just as important as those previously mentioned. It’ll mostly focus on the compliance aspect of being an eligible NCAA athlete, and how every single player has to make sure they’re adhering to the rules and regulations that the overseeing organization has put in place. (READ Eligibility Part I and Part II)
Compliance
When a student athlete first hears the word ~compliance~, the initial reaction is “I just have to sign a bunch of stupid forms, then I’ll be golden”. Despite how much of a drag this seems, you shouldn’t take them lightly at all as they’re quite important for your eligibility to play. The association itself states that:
“Each institution shall comply with all applicable rules and regulations of the Association in the conduct of its intercollegiate athletics programs. It shall monitor its programs to ensure compliance and to identify and report to the Association instances in which compliance has not been achieved … Members of an institution’s staff, student-athletes, and other individuals and groups representing the institution’s athletics interests shall comply with the applicable Association rules, and the member institution shall be responsible for such compliance.”
Basically what this means is, NCAA compliance is not one of those things that vary from school to school, like in the academics portion. There are very specific guidelines that all athletes throughout the association need to follow, and if you’re not compliant with the rules, your fate is no longer in the hands of your school but of the NCAA itself.
Enough talk about what it is though - what adhering to compliance really means (as stated before) is the action of signing many different forms once every year as a student athlete. At least that’s the bare minimum … Being compliant means that you’re following all the rules and regulations stated in the NCAA manual (each individual Division has its own manual). We’ve linked a sample summary of these rules and regulations for Division 1 athletes as provided by our wonderful friends at the organization :), however, the individual manuals are available for purchase on the NCAA website. Some major topics covered for returning and incoming student athletes are Amateurism, Financial Aid, Transferring, Outside Competition, and Recruitment.
Every student athlete needs to be aware of this fact:
Both the NCAA and individual schools do drug testing. These tests are to make sure athletes are not taking any banned substances that give them any type of unfair advantage over others in competition. The moral of the story is, don’t take any banned substances or else you’ll risk losing eligibility.
Amateurism & Outside Competition
The last major topic we have to discuss now is the idea of amateurism in collegiate sports. This might come as a shocker to many, but when you begin to play for the NCAA you essentially sign your life away. Just kidding, but the real deal is - you’re no longer considered a player for profit - you’re an amateur. The NCAA defines this as:
“Student-athletes shall be amateurs in an intercollegiate sport, and their participation should be motivated primarily by education and by the physical, mental, and social benefits to be derived. Student participation in intercollegiate athletics is an avocation, and student-athletes should be protected from exploitation by professional and commercial enterprises.”
Essentially, when you’re playing in college, you’re not allowed to take any amount of prize money or endorsement money. This means you can’t be playing in professional tournaments or starring in any shampoo commercials any time soon (although new rules about athletes being able to make money off their brand in California are starting to blur those lines). For tennis players specifically, prior to being an NCAA athlete you can receive only up to $10k in prize money before you step on campus, however, many players seldom reach those levels. While you’re already in school, you’re not allowed to participate in any outside non-amateur events or team competitions - some exceptions to note include:
Soccer - you can participate in outside teams, but they must be amateur
Wrestling - you can participate in outside competition, but only between the start of your academic year and Nov. 1st
Individual Events (Tennis for example) - you can participate in any competition, as long as you don’t receive money and are representing only yourself, not your school or the NCAA.
Qualifier vs. Non-qualifier (D1)
A final word to be said on this important term that most students should know - it determines whether or not a student athlete is qualified to be eligible. These terms shown below only apply to Division 1 athletes, although the same general rule can be inferred for Division 2 and Division 3. Keep in mind that an academic redshirt student is considered a qualifier. As Defined in the NCAA Division 1 Manual a qualifier is:
“...a student who, for purposes of determining eligibility for financial aid, practice, and competition, has met all of the following requirements: (a) Graduation from high school; (b) Successful completion of a required core curriculum consisting of a minimum number of courses in specified subjects; (c) Specified minimum grade-point average in the core curriculum, and (d) Specified minimum SAT or ACT score.”
Whereas a non-qualifier is:
“...a student who has not graduated from high school or who, at the time specified in the regulation, has not successfully completed the required core curriculum or has not presented the required minimum core-curriculum grade-point average and/or the corresponding SAT/ ACT score required for a qualifier or academic redshirt.”
*This post concludes our series on the must-know aspects of NCAA Eligibility.