It’s almost time for you to head to college!  Does that mean you have to give up playing golf?  Absolutley not!  In fact, what if your golf game could help you get into a good school? Juniorlinks takes a look into college golf and how to get there.

What is the NCAA?

According to their website:

“The National Collegiate Athletic Association strives to maintain intercollegiate athletics as an integral part of the educational program and the athlete as an integral part of the student body.

The NCAA is the organization through which the nation's colleges and universities speak and act on athletics matters at the national level. It is a voluntary association of approximately 1,200 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals devoted to the sound administration of intercollegiate athletics.

The Association was founded in 1906. It is made up of 977 schools classified in three divisions (Division I has 318 schools; Division II has 264; and Division III has 395). Schools in Division I compete at the so-called major-college level.” 

OK.  But what does all that have to do with me?

If you intend to participate in Division I or II athletics as a freshman in college, you must be registered with and be certified as eligible by the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse.  This bascially means that the NCAA will have you on their records as officially having met all the requirements needed to play collegiate sports.  Also, you must be considered certified before receiving an athletics scholarship, practicing and competing at a Division I or II institution.  It is suggested that you apply for certification after your junior year in high school if you are sure that you want to play sports as a freshman in college.  (By the way, this certification has no bearing whatsoever on what school you will attend or if you’ll get to play there.  All it does is say that you have met the requirement to play.) 

For more information on the NCAA Initial Eligibility Clearinghouse, contact them at:

Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse
P.O. Box 4044
Iowa City, IA
52243-4044

Phone                                                                     319/337-1492

or visit the NCAA Initial Eligibility Clearinghouse website by clicking here.

Where does Financial Aid come in? 

If you have met all the proper requirements to be a college athlete, then you are eligible to receive financial aid that can cover tuition and fees, room and board, and books.  Athletic scholarships are given out on a yearly basis, and can be renewed for a maximum of five years within a six year period. 

You can also receive financial aid from the government, your high school, your local civic or booster club, or basically anywhere.  There are lots of scholarships to be had out there, they just need to be found!  Here are a couple of links to help you out:

Pell Grant - A Federal Pell Grant, unlike a loan, does not have to be repaid. Generally, Pell Grants are awarded only to undergraduate students who have not earned a bachelor's or professional degree. (A professional degree is typically earned after earning a bachelor's degree in a field such as medicine, law, or dentistry.) In some cases, you may receive a Pell Grant for attending a postbaccalaureate teacher certification program. For many students, Pell Grants provide a foundation of financial aid to which other aid may be added.

For more information on the Pell Grant visit here. 

Learn more about NCAA Scholarships and Internships  

What is the National Letter of Intent and do I have to have one to play college golf?

The NCAA describes the National Letter of Intent (NLI) as “a binding agreement between a prospective student-athlete and an institution in which the institution agrees to provide a prospective student-athlete who is admitted to the institution and is eligible for financial aid under NCAA rules athletics aid for one academic year in exchange for the prospect's agreement to attend the institution for one academic year. All colleges and universities that participate in the NLI program agree to not recruit a prospective student-athlete once he/she signs an NLI with another college or university. Therefore, a prospective student-athlete who signs an NLI should no longer receive recruiting contacts and calls and is ensured an athletics scholarship for one academic year. The NLI must be accompanied by an institutional financial aid agreement. If the student-athlete does not enroll at that institution for a full academic year, he/she may be subject to specific penalties, including loss of a season of eligibility and a mandatory residence requirement.”  For more information on the NLI, visit:  http://www.national-letter.org/

Picking the Right Place for You

Deciding which school to go to is a very important decision.  Before jumping into anything, several options should be considered.  For help with making this decision, here are some    questions that might give you some valuable insight into what to expect at each school:

Ask...about what a typical day for a student athlete entails.  This will not only show you how much time you’ll be spending practicing, studying, and travelling, but it will also give you a good indication of what is expected of you. 

Ask...what percentage of their players graduate in four years.  This indicates the school’s academic quality and also illustrates the coach’s emphasis on schoolwork. 

Ask...about the details of your financial aid.  Know what exactly you’re getting, for how long, and what you can and cannot do with it.  Also find out if injury has any effect on it.  This can end up being a very important factor in choosing a school. 

For more helpful questions, go to: http://www.ncaa.org/eligibility/cbsa/whattoask.html

The most important thing to remember when looking for a college is to find a place where you’ll have plenty of the time for your schoolwork, your golf, and yourself.  Playing collegiate sports can be an awesome experience, but it shouldn’t be the only thing you have time for.  And don’t worry if things don’t go the way you hoped they might in the college search--you may end up going to someplace that you didn’t think you’d want to go to or that you had never even heard of a year ago!  Whatever happens, remember that everything happens for a reason!