Recruiting Rules
Recruiting Definitions

The NCAA (www.ncaa.org) publishes a document entitled "Guide to International Academic Standards for Athletic Eligibility". We recommend that you obtain a copy of this document and read it thoroughly. There are several important points to remember in regards to academic standards. These points include:

Applications should be obtained as soon as possible to ensure that you are aware of the necessary academic requirements (i.e. core courses that must be taken and standardized testing that should be completed).

These are minimum requirements. Meeting these requirements does not guarantee you acceptance into the university of your choice but will only ensure that if accepted you will be eligible to participate in the NCAA sanctioned sport.

Failure to meet these standards will not automatically prelude you from participating in the NCAA sanctioned sport. NCAA academic committees may grant a waiver of initial eligibility requirements in certain exceptional circumstances.

A failure to meet these standards will not automatically prelude you from receiving a scholarship or financial aid even if you are prevented from participating in a NCAA sanctioned sport.

Be prepared to adhere to rules

At the outset we spoke about the need to know and comply with the rules of recruiting. Different schools will be associated with different organizations. The most notable, of course, is the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). There's also the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) as well as the national governing body for community colleges, the NJCAA.

Each one has its own guidelines and policies for recruiting and it is your responsibility to educate yourself regarding those policies.

For example, a coach whose institution is an NCAA-affiliate cannot contact you until you are a Grade 11 (junior) student. So if you are sending the coach recruiting forms or emails as a Grade 9 or Grade10 student, (what they call freshmen & sophomores in the US) the coach may not be able to respond to you until July 1st of your Grade 11 year.

However, it is perfectly legal and often a good idea for you to contact them. Let them know your summer schedule. You never know when that college coach will have a colleague scouting at a tournament or a camp you're team is playing in. The college coach may ask a colleague to check your playing abilities while there just to see if you're a potential prospect. It doesn't take much of your time to send that information out.

For Grade 11 and Grade 12 (Senior) students, we offer the same advice. Stay in contact with college coaches by informing them of your game schedules for school, club teams, camps, etc. Remind them of your skills (both academic and athletic) and the asset

Contact period - permissible for authorized athletic department staff members to make in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts and evaluations.

Dead period - not permissible to make in-person recruiting contacts or evaluations on- or off-campus or permit official or unofficial visits.

Evaluation period - permissible for authorized athletics department staff to be involved in off-campus activities to assess academic qualifications and playing abilities. No in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts with a prospect is permitted.

Quiet period - permissible to make in-person recruiting contacts only on the member institution's campus.

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