Student-Athletes & The NCAA

The NCAA is divided into three divisions that are denoted with roman numerals. These divisions have no reflection of the university’s academics, rather the amount of funding that goes to sports and how competitive they are. Division I is the most competitive and has the most funding, while Division III is the least competitive with less funding than Divisions I and II. Divisions I and II award talent-based scholarships, while Division III only awards academic and needs-based funding to its recruits.

The NCAA checks to make sure that all athletes are meeting minimal academic requirements (at the least), to ensure their academic success. If you are interested in the recruiting process use the NCAA website (ncaa.org) as a guide to help with the following:

• Register for the Eligibility Center 
• Understand eligibility requirements
• Discover which classes will count towards your Core Courses in your province
• Research teams in your sport (including their division, news updates, rankings)
• Download the recruitment calendar and amateurism requirements specific to your sport
• Download the NCAA “Guide for the College-Bound Athlete”

To be eligible to play in the NCAA you must meet two components: amateurism and academics. Most college athletes will meet the amateurism requirement, which means the athlete is an amateur and follows the amateur rules for their selected sport.

To meet the academic requirement, it is important for the athlete to work closely with their guidance counselor to maintain a minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) of 2.3 (for Division I) or 2.2 (for Division II), complete 16 Core Courses, and submit official transcripts.

Letter Grade	GPA
A	4
B	3
C	2
D	1

To calculate your GPA, you would need to average your grades beginning at the 9^th grade. For the NCAA, only the GPA of the 16 Core Courses are needed. Make sure to use the grading scale of your province when calculating your GPA. For most provinces, the 16 core courses should be pretty close to the requirements needed to graduate. However, an athlete in Ontario should be on the Academic track rather than the applied track. Even by switching to the Academic track by grade 11, it can be too late to compete in the NCAA. Division III does not require the 16 core courses. Along with these courses, the athlete should check the university website for any more requirements.

Division I	Division II	Requirement
4 years	3 years	English (or French first language)
3 years	2 years	Math (Algebra 1 or higher)
2 years	2 years	Natural or Physical Science (1 year with labs)
1 additional year	3 additional years	English, Math, or Science
2 years	2 years	Social Science
4 additional years	4 additional years	English, Math, Science, Social Science, foreign language, comparative religion, or philosophy

*Note: Years=Units The exact courses that can be used toward Core Courses requirements can be found at ncaa.org/courselist. Once beginning high school, a student must graduate in 4 years students and must have completed 15 out of 16 Core Courses by their graduation. Only 1 Core Course can be taken after their graduation (i.e. summer school). If an athlete meets the 16 course requirements but does not meet the GPA requirement, they are able to participate as an Academic Redshirt. An Academic Redshirt is a first-year who cannot compete with the team until they meet the requirement but can still practice with the team. The guidance counselor of the athlete should send a transcript to the NCAA to prove that the student is on track with eligibility, and then once again after graduation.

Athletic scholarships can vary from a full scholarship all the way down to ~$1000. Receiving a full athletic scholarship is reserved for truly elite athletes, typically competing at the provincial level or higher. One of two things will happen during the recruitment stage: Students will be contacted by interested coaches as early as Grade 9, or students will need to instigate contact with coaches.

If you are contacted by a coach: great! Talk to the coaches to see what their program has to offer and investigate their program. This could mean unofficial visits or just searching the web. If you have a specific interest in a university, reach out to the university and keep a spreadsheet of contacts and any promises you’ve made. There are many rules that coaches need to follow when recruiting you. Make sure to understand the rules for your sport fully on the NCAA website. If you are not actively being recruited, here are some steps you can take:

• Research programs using university websites
• Complete a Recruiting Questionnaire for each athletic team you are interested in
• Retrieve the coach’s name, email, and phone number and contact them
• Keep a spreadsheet with program information and all contacts made (with dates)
• Create an online athletic resume or profile
• Post game tape and highlight videos on YouTube
• When emailing coaches, share your links to your game tape and athletic resume/profile
• Attend showcase tournaments and/or elite sports camps in the United States.

As you narrow down your search and draw closer to choosing your future team here are some questions to be considered:

• Does the school have the academic major that you are looking for?
• What is the overall reputation of the department of your major and what opportunities do they have for internships, co-ops, and job placements?
• Did you get along with team during you unofficial or official visit? What was your impression?
• How do you like the coach? Their coaching style? Their interactions with you?
• What types of financial aid are being offered to you? Value of scholarships vs cost of the institution?

In grade 12, after September 1^st, athletes can go on official visits, which are paid for by the school. A student can go on up to 5 official visits at D1 schools and to an unlimited amount at D2 schools. Even if an athlete has made a verbal commitment they should still apply to multiple institutions, as either party can legally back out. The legally binding commitment is the National Letter of Intent (NLI), which means the student is committed to the school for a full academic year, and the school must provide the funding stated in the letter. The first NLI signing date is in early November and the student does not need to apply for other schools, as their recruitment is complete! There is a second NLI signing session in April, after acceptance letters are received for regular admissions. If you didn’t sign during the November NLI period, make sure you apply to all schools that are interested in you that you would like to pursue during the regular admissions period.

As mentioned previously, U.S. university admissions is different than NCAA eligibility. University admissions may require the following (all universities are slightly different):

• An application (+fee)
• Official ACT or SAT scores (sent from the test-maker)
• Official transcripts (directly from the high school or ministry of education)
• Up to three letters of recommendation
• An essay and writing supplements
• An optional resume
• Links to your website, YouTube channel, or other media you would like to share