Amateurism

All incoming student-athletes must be certified as amateurs with the NCAA Eligibility Center. With global recruiting becoming more common, determining the amateur status of prospective student-athletes can be challenging. All student-athletes, including international students, must maintain their amateur status throughout their recruiting process and their collegiate careers in order to be eligible to participate in intercollegiate competition.

In general, amateurism requirements do not allow:

• Contracts with professional teams;
• Salary for participating in athletics;
• Prize money above actual and necessary expenses;
• Play with professionals;
• Tryouts, practice, or competition with a professional team;
• Benefits from an agent or prospective agent;
• Agreement to be represented by an agent; or
• Delayed initial full-time collegiate enrollment to participate in organized competition.

Requesting Amateurism with NCAA Eligibility Center

If a prospective student-athlete is enrolling at a Division I institution for the fall semester, he/she may request an amateurism certification decision from the NCAA Eligibility Center on or after April 1 before their enrollment in college. If a prospective student-athlete is enrolling in college in the spring semester, he/she may request a final amateurism decision on or after October 1 before their enrollment in college.

How to Request Final Amateurism Certification on the NCAA Eligibility Center

Additional Information about NCAA Amateurism can be found at NCAA.org