The Athletic $cholarship Eligibility Coach

It’s the first Wednesday in February, and National Letter of Intent [NLI] signing day.  In Waco, TX, Jacob Anderson a 6’6” local football player and national prospect is preparing for his press conference at Grand Valley High School. His high school and Pop Warner coaches are there, in addition to lots of family and friends who have followed his career since he started playing football at age six.
Jacob has won every major award in high school football. He’s listed with every major scouting service. Every major college coach has been seen in town at his high school football games for the past three years. It was no surprise that Jacob has been recruited by all of the major colleges, and he is preparing to sign a full scholarship and start his journey to the National Football League.
The cheerleaders are leading the crowd as the pep band plays the school fight song. Jacob approaches the microphone and the crowd gets quiet. “After much thought and consideration, I have decided to play my college football at the University of,” there is a long pause, followed by Jacob saying the word --“Texas.”
The gym erupts in cheers and chants of “Hook ‘em Horns.” Jacob’s high school coach places a Texas hat on his head and cameras flash photos of Jacob, his parents and little sister for the newspaper articles that will follow.
This is a great day,” says the high school principal. “Jacob has prepared for this for a long time and he has made our school and his family proud,” he adds. “We’re behind you all the way,” the principal concludes. The pep band starts to play the Texas fight song and the crowd goes wild.
Two months later in April, across the state in Arlington, there is a smaller but similar gathering of friends and family at the home of Emily Turner who has been the fastest girl in the State of Texas for the past two years. In addition to competing in indoor and outdoor track, Emily excels in cross country. She is a rare talent in that she is as good at the middle distances as she is at the longer cross country races.
The Turner house is decorated in red and white and there are miniature hogs lining the living and dining room of her parents’ home. Today, Emily is signing an NLI to run track at the University of Arkansas.
Both Jacob and Emily report to their universities in early August for pre-season football and cross country practices. The local newspapers print follow-up stories with photos on their local sports heroes leaving for college to become NCAA Division I elite student-athletes.
Fast forward to September; it’s the opening weekend of the college football season and everyone who can be is in Austin, TX, for the home opener at the University of Texas. In Waco, there is a watch party that has been planned since the day Jacob signed with Texas. “Did you hear that Jacob is back at home and not in Austin,” said the bartender to one of the patrons. “What happened?” asked the patron? “He got a full scholarship to Texas, why in the world would he be back here in Waco?”
“Something to do with his eligibility.” “I’m not sure exactly what happened, but he left school right after pre-season practice and is working across town at FedEx,” said the bartender. “What a shame,” the patron responded.
Over in Arlington, two ladies from Westside Baptist Church are shocked to see Faye Turner, Emily’s mother, working in the shoe department of Neiman Marcus. “What is she doing working here, she’s a guidance counselor at my daughter’s middle school,” asked the first lady. “She can’t need the money, her daughter got a full scholarship to Arkansas,” said the second lady.
As Turner approaches to wait on her two church members, she says “hello” and asks “May I get you those shoes to try on?” They reply in unison, “No thanks, we’re just looking.” The first lady asks, “When did you start working here?” Turner responds, “Last week, after we found out that we had to pay for Emily’s first year of college at Arkansas. You know those out-of-state fees are very high,” Turner added.
How could it be that two young star athletes sign full scholarships then one ends up back at home after completing pre-season practice, and one ends up having her mother working a second job trying to raise the out-of state tuition? Your first thought is the students must have really messed up. Not necessarily so.
Unfortunately, these scenarios are not unique and happen all too often in college athletics. This is especially true for student-athletes who do not plan their NCAA eligibility certification process effectively. This book will explain how to Get to Final Certified and Qualify for an Athletic Scholarship so that your son or daughter will not have to return home after getting settled into a new life; and so you won’t have to take on a second job to pay tuition after you planned to save that money to purchase a car to reward your student-athlete for receiving a full scholarship.
The Eligibility Coach guides parents through the necessary steps to help their children successfully navigate the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA Eligibility and Recruiting Processes and become certified to receive an athletic scholarship. The book is divided into sections that are named for the parts of an athletic competition, because the family needs to prepare for this process just as it has prepared for athletic competitions for so many years.
Pre-Game explains the admissions and recruiting processes. NCAA member institutions compete at the Division I, II or III level; Division I being split into the bowl sub-division [FBS] and the championship sub-division [FCS] for the sport of football. The difference in these divisions and how those differences affect scholarship opportunities will be explained.
The First Half walks through the certification process and the steps to take in the ninth and tenth grades.
In order for a Division I or II university to award an athletic scholarship, the prospective student-athlete must be certified by the NCAA Eligibility Center [EC]. Division III does not use the EC. How to access the EC, what you need to provide, and most importantly when you need to provide the information will be explained so you may help your child manage this essential process.
Many students do not understand that amateurism certification is as important as academic certification and tend to take this important step for granted. This book will show how to successfully complete both certifications.
Time and time again, students miss the same steps in the certification process. These “Common Mistakes,” if corrected early in the process, can eliminate a lot of headaches. This book will list the Most Common Eligibility Center Mistakes and how to avoid them in an effort to ensure that readers do not fall into the same traps that have befallen others before them.
Half-time covers preparation to be made during the eleventh and twelfth grades, including narrowing university choices to five.
The Second Half covers the NLI Process, followed by the steps that are necessary after high school graduation and after the student-athlete reports to campus.
Extra Periods discusses additional steps in the certification process for transfer, international, and home-schooled student-athletes and gives advice for students with learning-impacted disabilities.
The Post-Game section contains reference materials to assist you along the way.