Eligibility Centers Are Gatekeepers for NCAA & NAIA

To Be Eligible to Play, You Must Register

There’s no way around it, if you want to play sports in an NCAA Division I or II or NAIA institution, you are now required to register with their respective clearinghouses, or eligibility centers.   

As college athletics continue to come under increased scrutiny, academics have taken on a more integral role.  Today, more than ever before in the history of college sports, an individual’s academic performance is viewed as the key linchpin between high school and junior college athletes and  their dreams of playing at the next level.  A sad history of recruits and coaches attempting to circumnavigate entrance requirements by improperly or erroneously reporting athletes’ academic records led to the establishment of the initial clearinghouse by the NCAA.  This year, the NAIA follows suit with their own eligibilty center. 

Once more commonly known as the Clearinghouse, the Eligibility Center has been a standard practice with the NCAA for a number of years with modifications occuring along the way.  It’s purpose is to verify the academic qualifications of student-athletes wanting to play sports in Division I or II for the first time and to make certain that minimum requirements have been met or exceeded.  Those academic standards have steadily become more demanding, putting responsibility squarely on the student-athletes to engage in and pass a list of core courses which will enable them to be on sound academic footing for college.  To learn more about the NCAA Eligibilty Center, go to http://eligibilitycenter.org/ECWR2/NCAA_EMS/NCAA.html.  Here you will discover the answsers to a variety of pertinent questions as well as easy access to registration. 

The NAIA’s eligibility center starts this academic year.  As with the NCAA, any high school prospect or college transfer who wishes to participate in NAIA sports for the first time must be academically cleared by the NAIA’s eligibilty center.  The NAIA academic standards are not as strict as those of the NCAA, but they are similar and parents, athletes and coaches should not assume that just anyone will be cleared.  To learn more about the NAIA Eligibility Center, go to www.playnaia.org.   

At NSR, we fully support the NCAA and the NAIA  in their efforts to better prepare athletes for the academic rigors of college.  By setting tough but fair academic benchmarks, student-athetes will be in better positions to take on the responsibilities of life after college without sports.