The two college associations, the NCAA and NAIA, both require there college student-athletes (except for NCAA D3) to become eligible prior to receiving their award, practicing, and competing at the college level:

This is an essential step in becoming eligible to play college sports.

If you want to play college sports and receive a scholarship, you will need to register and be cleared by the NCAA and/or NAIA.  This is how they determine the academic eligibility and amateur status for all NCAA DI, DII, and NAIA athletes.  They are mainly looking for the following things:

1. Grades – The NCAA and NAIA want to make sure that every student-athlete can balance the requirements in the classroom, while competing in their sport at a high level.
2. Amateur Status – Since every athlete that participates in college athletics must be an amateur – the NCAA and NAIA research the following items:

• Contracts with a professional team
• Salary for participating in athletics or receiving prize money
• Receiving benefits from an agent or prospective agent
• Agreeing to be represented by a professional sports agent
• Getting financial assistance based on athletics skills or participation

NAIA Eligibility Center:

To start the process to become eligible with the NAIA please visit:

www.playnaia.org and click on Register Now to Play