Area coaches, parents learn NCAA requirements

Over 100 area coaches, high school athletes and their parents attended meetings Monday at the Lakeside High School auditorium to learn what is required for athletes looking to continue playing on the collegiate level.

Natalie Shock, the associate athletics director for the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, held two separate sessions — one for coaches and one for athletes and their parents — to discuss the NCAA Eligibility Center.

Shock has been part of the Bears’ administration for over 14 years. She brought softball to the university in 1996, serving as the head coach for 10 years. She has held information sessions on the NCAA Eligibility Center for many years, hosting three last year, one at Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School and two at Joe T. Robinson in Little Rock.

The Eligibility Center is a clearinghouse set up by the NCAA to determine that student-athletes are able to play at NCAA Division I or II schools. The Eligibility Center sets out requirements for courses that a high school athlete should complete as well as determines whether or not the athlete can still be considered an amateur.

Athletes are encouraged to sign up with the Eligibility Center by their sophomore year of high school to make sure they meet all benchmarks required before graduation, but Shock believes they should sign up earlier if they believe they might play on the college level.

“The Eligibility Center says to try to sign up as a 10th-grader or 11th-grader,” Shock said. “I’m a firm believer that if that kid has any inkling whatsoever, especially if that kid is going to be somebody that might get a scholarship down the line, sign them up as a ninth-grader.

“Get them in there. Get them in the Eligibility Center, and get them signed up. That way, at the end of their ninth-grade year, they send their transcript in. … They can go on their Eligibility Center website; each kid is given a 10-digit code or pin number that allows them to go on the Eligibility Center to look at their account.”

Students are then able to determine their progress according to the guidelines set forth by the center.

Shock noted multiple requirements for athletes to qualify to play at the collegiate level, and those re-

quirements are different for each level.

While both Division I and Division II schools require 16 core courses from prospective student-athletes, each division has its own requirements. Division III and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) schools do not have requirements as DIII schools do not give athletic scholarships, and NAIA schools are not under the purview of the NCAA.

Division I schools require four years of English, three years of math at the Algebra I- level or higher, two years of natural/physical science and two years of social science. There is also a requirement for one additional English, math or science course and four other core courses, such as foreign languages or philosophy.

Of those 16 courses, Division I schools require that 10 of those be completed before the end of the student’s junior year, and seven of those should be in English, math or natural/physical science. The student- athlete should also have a grade point average of at least 2.3 among those core courses.

Division II schools require three years of English, two years of math, two years of natural/physical science and two years of social science. They also require three additional English, math or science courses and four other core courses. A GPA of at least 2.2 among the core courses is required for students looking to play on the Division II level.

In addition to the Eligibility Center requirements, Shock discussed some the recent NCAA rule changes that will affect student-athletes. One of those is that high school athletes will not be allowed to have official or unofficial visits until Sept. 1 of their junior year, a rule that was made official on April 25.

NCAA softball coaches have also instituted guidelines that seventh-grade athletes are now considered prospects, so they cannot be contacted by college coaches from that time until their senior year of high school.

Signing up for the NCAA Eligibility Center costs $75, and it can be done by visiting http://www.eligibilitycenter.org.