VIDEO SCRIPT HIGHLIGHTS PART ONE : STUDY HABITS AND CORE COURSES Your first and most important obligation as a student/athlete is to your school work. It doesn t matter if you re the best player in the country, if you don t earn good grades you ll never be eligible to compete at the collegiate level. So take school seriously, develop good study habits, ask your teachers for help when you need it, and get to know your guidance counselor. Remember there are many people who want to see you succeed, and you should never be shy about asking them for help or advice. No matter what year you are in school, even if you re just beginning your freshman year, it s never too early to start making a plan to be eligible for collegiate athletics. So what does it take to be eligible? To be eligible to become a Division I or II athlete you must graduate from high-school on time, complete required core courses within four consecutive academic years, and earn a minimum GPA in those courses. But what exactly is a core course? Good question. A core course is an academic, college prep course in ü English ü Math ü Natural or Physical Science ü Social Science ü Foreign Language ü Comparative Religion ü Philosophy These courses must be taught at or above your high school s regular academic level in other words, no remedial courses. The core course requirements are slightly different between NCAA Division I and II, but, for example, Division I athletes must have completed ü 4 years of English ü 3 years of math, Algebra I or higher ü 2 years of natural or physical science (including one year of lab if your school offers one) ü 1 extra year of English, math, or science ü 2 years of social science ü 4 years of extra core courses, from any of the categories mentioned, or foreign language, comparative religion, or philosophy. Your high school has a List of NCAA Courses, so be sure to ask your guidance counselor to help keep you on track. Remember, you must complete all of your required core courses within four consecutive academic years. PART TWO: THE NCAA ELIGIBILITY CENTER You can also find your high school s list of NCAA courses at www.eligibilitycenter.org which is an NCAA website where you will certify your academic and amateur credentials if you wish to compete in Division I or II athletics. The Eligibility Center has a ton of useful information on all of the topics in this video, so it s a great resource for you as prospective NCAA student athlete. You ll need to complete your online registration with the Eligibility Center at the beginning of your sophomore year; simply go to www.eligibilitycenter.org to register.
PART THREE: THE SAT, ACT, AND SLIDING SCALE OK, so you know about registering with the Eligibility Center and enrolling in core courses. So what s next? Well, just taking your core courses isn t enough; you ll also have to work hard to earn good grades in them. Your core course grade point average will be used in conjunction with your SAT and/or ACT score to determine your initial college eligibility on what is known as the sliding scale. On this scale, the higher your GPA, the lower your test scores can be, and vice versa. Of course, as a serious student and to be certain of your eligibility as an athlete, your goal should be to achieve the highest possible GPA and the highest possible test scores. Let s look at an example from the sliding scale: If you have a 2.50 core GPA you ll need to score 820 on your SAT or 68 on your ACT; but if your core GPA goes up to 3.25, you only need a 520 on the SAT or a 46 on the ACT. EXAMPLE FROM NCAA DIVISION I SLIDING SCALE (DIVISION I PRIOR TO AUGUST 1, 2016) CORE GPA SAT SCORE ACT SCORE 3.50 420 39 3.25 520 46 3.00 620 52 2.75 720 59 2.50 820 68 2.25 920 77 You can find the complete sliding scale at the Eligibility Center. But keep one thing in mind: the scale is going to change for Division I athletes beginning August 2016, so, as with all standards, be sure you have current information. So when should you take the SAT or ACT? You should register to take one or both of them in your junior year, which gives you time to retake them if you aren t satisfied with your results. There is no limit to the number of times you may take the tests; in fact, more than half of all students take the tests more than once. Even better news is that your best score from each section of the test, no matter when you took it, will be used when determining your eligibility. Oh, and FYI the writing sample is not used to determine your eligibility but of course you should still strive to earn a good mark. When registering for the tests, you ll need to be sure your scores are sent directly to the Eligibility Center. You can do this by using code 9999 in the score recipient section when you register. Also, at the end of your junior year, ask your guidance counselor to send an official transcript to the Eligibility Center.; if you ve attended more than one high school, the Center will need transcripts from each of them. Your guidance counselor will know exactly how to and when to send your transcripts, so rely on him or her.
REVIEW ü Beginning with your freshman year, take school seriously, develop good study habits, and ask for help when you need it. ü Take core courses from your high school s list of NCAA Courses, and work hard to maintain the highest GPA possible. ü At the beginning of your sophomore year, complete your online registration for the NCAA Eligibility Center. ü Register to take the SAT, ACT, or both in your junior year, and send your scores directly to the Eligibility Center by choosing recipient code 9999. ü At the end of your junior year, have your guidance counselor send official transcripts from each of the high schools you ve attended to the Eligibility Center. PART FOUR: AMATEURISM This is one super important thing you ll need to remember if you want to play NCAA Division I or II sports you must stay an amateur. But what exactly does that mean? It s pretty simple, really. To remain an amateur, you must never take money for playing, including prize money from contests or tournaments. You must not play for any team that calls itself professional, or for any team that provides its players with anything other than the necessary expenses for competing. You can t even practice or play with professionals. You must also stay away from agents, and never agree to be represented by an agent, even for a future date. Don t accept gifts from agents, or from anyone using gifts to reward your athletic ability. If you maintain your amateurism by following all of these rules, you can and must be certified as an amateur student athlete during your senior year of high school. You should request your final amateurism certification at you guessed it the Eligibility Center. Once again that website is www.eligibilitycenter.org. Before we move on, let s quickly review the ways to stay an amateur: ü Never take money or prizes for playing, even in a contest. ü Never tryout, practice, or play with professionals. ü Never sign a contract with a professional team or receive any compensation for playing. ü Stay away from agents, and never sign an agreement with an agent, even for the future. Remember that remaining an amateur at this stage is a huge bonus you get to continue to play and improve in the sport you love and get a college education which is more valuable than anything that can be given to you.
PART FIVE: THE RECRUITING PROCESS Okay, as I mentioned at the beginning of this video, you may be hoping to earn an athletic scholarship. If you want to earn a scholarship based on your athletic ability you will need to compete at the NCAA Division I or II level. NCAA Division III institutions offer scholarships based on academic ability, but not on athletic performance. In order to earn a scholarship to play at the next level you will likely be involved in the recruiting process. To put it simply, this covers all of the things that happen once a college coach has identified you as a prospective scholarship athlete. There are several important regulations which both you and college coaches must follow in order to maintain the integrity of the process and your eligibility. Let s go over some of the basic recruiting terms. The first term is contact. This one is simple. Whenever a coach meets with you or your parents face to face, away from the college campus, and says anything more than hello, it is considered a contact. This includes interaction at your high school or anywhere where you might be competing or practicing. There is a specified period of time when coaches may visit with you or your parents, on or off campus, including watching you play or visiting your high school. This is called the contact period, and it varies by sport. Almost the exact opposite of the contact period is the dead period: during this time coaches may not have any face to face interaction with you, anywhere, but they may write or telephone you or your parents. The next important term to remember is evaluation; this is when a coach watches you practice or compete, at your high school or another venue, for the purpose of evaluating your athletic ability. There is actually a specific evaluation period when college coaches are permitted to watch you play or visit your high school. Again, this period varied by sport. Remember, though, the evaluation period is different than the contact period in that coaches are simply observing you; they cannot have any in person conversations with you or your parents away from the college s campus. You and your parents may, however, visit a college campus during this time, and coaches may write or telephone you. Let s take a break and review what we ve learned about the recruiting process so far: ü Contact. This is a face to face meeting between a college coach and you or your parents that includes more than just hello. ü Contact period. This is a period of time when coaches may visit with you or your parents, on or off campus. ü Dead period. During this time, in person contact is not permitted, but a coach may write or telephone you or your parents. ü Evaluation. This is when a coach watches you practice or play to evaluate your ability. ü Evaluation period. During this time, coaches can watch you practice or play, but without having in person contact. You or you parents may visit a college campus during this time, and coaches are allowed to write or telephone you.
PART SIX: GAMBLING WITH YOUR ELIGIBILITY Now that you understand a little bit more about the recruiting process, you won t want to do anything to jeopardize this process or impact your eligibility. One of the things that could stand in your way big time is gambling. You have to understand right away that the NCAA does not allow any type of wagering on sports, and this is true while you are being recruited and while you are competing as a NCAA student athlete. Now it s easy to think of gambling as something that happens in Las Vegas or Atlantic City, but there are many seemingly innocent things that could get you in trouble. Examples of wagering on sports include being in a fantasy league, betting online, or even being in a March Madness pool. In short, the best thing to do is play it safe, and never make any sort of bet, even one that doesn t involve money, on the outcome of a sporting event in which the NCAA conducts a championship. PART SEVEN: OFFICIAL VISITS AND THE NATIONAL LETTER OF INTENT Pretty simple so far, right? OK, so let s look at what might happen once the recruiting process is well under way; specifically, after a coach has evaluated you and is considering offering you a scholarship. Once you ve narrowed down where you might want to attend school, a college may pay for you and your parents to visit the campus. This is known as an official visit. For an official visit, the college is permitted to pay only for your transportation to and from the school, a room and meals while you are visiting the campus, and reasonable entertainment expenses, such as admission to up to three home athletics contests. You are allowed to take just five official visits to Division I schools, but there is no limit on visits to Division II schools. But an official visit is not the only way to explore a college you might you be interested in attending; you may also visit a campus on an unofficial visit, which simply means that the trip is entirely paid for by you or your parents. The cool thing about unofficial visits is that you may take as many of them as you like, and can make them at any time. Just two important things to remember about unofficial visits: the only thing a college can provide you during an unofficial visit are tickets to up to 3 home athletics games, and if you visit during the dead period the school s coaches won t be able to talk with you. PART EIGHT: THE NATIONAL LETTER OF INTENT So you ve been through the recruiting process, probably taken a combination of official and unofficial visits, and finally made your college choice. What s left? Well, at this time you may wish to sign a National Letter of Intent. You ve probably heard of it, or known someone who has signed one. The Letter of Intent is a voluntary, or optional program that is administered by the NCAA Eligibility Center. By signing it, you are agreeing to attend a specific college or university for one academic year, and in exchange that college or university must provide athletics financial aid, or what we typically call a scholarship, for one academic year. It s very similar to a contract, but is optional. Even though the Letter of Intent only covers your freshman year, Division I colleges and universities are permitted to offer multi-year scholarships; they simply must notify you in writing by July 1 if they are renewing your scholarship for the following year.
REVIEW ü Don t gamble. Never make any bets on sports, in person or online, even ones that don t involve money, and don t participate in any fantasy leagues or pools. These all are considered forms of wagering and could jeopardize your eligibility. ü Official visits. Beginning with your senior year in high school, you may take up to 5 official visits to Division I college campuses: these are visits paid for by the college or university, with certain limitations. There is no limit on official visits to Division II campuses. ü Unofficial visits. These are visits to college campuses that are paid for by you or your parents; they are unlimited and can be taken at any time, but if you visit in the dead period you won t be able to talk with the coaches. ü National Letter of Intent. You may sign an optional National Letter of Intent once you have made your college choice; this is a voluntary contract between you and the college or university that states you will attend their school for one year in exchange for one year of athletics related financial aid. YOUR OPPORTUNITY You have an amazing opportunity. You are one of a tiny percentage of gifted athletes who might have the ability to play at the next level. Remember all of the important things you must do in order to not waste this gift: take school seriously; study hard; seek help when you need it; register for the eligibility center and use it as valuable resource; pay attention to NCAA rules concerning recruiting, gambling, and amateurism, and always play it safe. One last thing we didn t talk about but it s probably more important than all of the rest: take care of your body. As an athlete, this is the machine that your success depends on. Eat well, get lots of sleep, and stay away from drugs, alcohol, and anyone who tries to convince you they are okay. They re not, and they ll surely kill your chance at this amazing opportunity.