New Legislation, Entrepreneurial Skills & Technology Can Assist Student-Athletes In Overcoming The Financial Struggle.
Opportunities have never been better for student-athletes in pursuing collegiate studies & competition without being in debt or relying only on collegiate financial aid.
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If you have pursued athletic excellence through high school and into college, been the parent or coach of someone who is, then you know the challenge of making that journey financially viable.
The long hours of training combined with the prioritization of schooling leaves little time for student athletes to generate income via a part time job to subsidize their efforts.
You throw in all the expenses of athlete development in a modern age which include individual coaching and the financial burden starts to add up.
Families are left with the responsibility of supporting the efforts financially, an avenue that is not always feasible. Â Â In sports like hockey, the amount of money can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars just to get the practice and development time without any guarantee that scholarships or financial reward is down the road.
Then there is the very alluring possibility of a college scholarship to offset expenses as the reward. a free education!   However, most college scholarships do not cover 100% of the expenses required to go to school.  While scholarships to American schools are lauded as the ultimate prize, many are partial scholarships and tuition and expenses are most often higher than a Canadian option. Â
There is also the topic of the quality of competitive opportunities in the USA vs Canada. It is widely regarded that sports like basketball, hockey, football, baseball, volleyball, golf, soccer, track & field and others provide a higher level of competition and development in American settings as opposed to Canadian.  Yet, the financial burden to the USA route can be very high for most.
Historically, American collegiate sports have limited opportunities for athletes outside of their full or partial scholarships to generate income.
This is changing.
Just recently, the NAIA has passed legislation, which is an amendment to existing language under the NAIA Amateur Code, allowing a student-athlete to receive compensation for promoting any commercial product, enterprise, or for any public or media appearance. Additionally, it is now permissible for a student-athlete to reference their intercollegiate athletic participation in such promotions or appearances.
This is big news and has significant implications on the heels of the NCAA recently announcing in April of 2020 that student-athletes are now able to receive compensation for third party endorsements both related to and separate from athletics. The plan includes players receiving compensation from social media and personal appearances, as well as through businesses they started.
(Note: The NCAA is the governing body for around 1200 schools.  Conversely, the NAIA consists of 300 schools and 13 sports. The NAIA is a smaller association than the NCAA, with just over 60,000 students. It includes two divisions (Division I and II) and Division I in the NAIA is comparable to Division II in the NCAA.)
In Canada, university and collegiate sports are governed by USports and the Canadian Collegiate College Association. Both organizations offer scholarships and bursaries and do not limit earnings off the playing field. Tuition and expenses are often less expensive in Canada as well.
Chloe Mitchell is a 19 year old freshman volleyball player at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is believed to be the first US college athlete to legally earn endorsement money under the NAIA’s NIL rules.
She arrived on campus with quite a social media following – nearly 49,000 on Instagram; another 5,500 on YouTube; and a whopping 2.7 million on TikTok – that she assembled from creating do-it-yourself project videos.
With the new legislation, Mitchell has been able to promote products without fear of losing her eligibility or scholarship. Recently, she posted a video about creating an indoor mini-golf course for her dad and endorsed two small brands, Bloodline Golf and Delta Putt for undisclosed compensation.
The YouTube video dropped on Dec. 16. Mitchell worked within the rules, and her school cheered her effort on.
Her entrepreneurial spirit is not limited to promoting products and DIY videos, as she and her parents have launched PlayBooked, an app and site intended assist athletes monetize their name, image and likeness.
The Bottom Line
While the topic of athletes generating revenue from initiatives outside their college financial aid will continue to be debated, the bottom line comes back to making the journey sustainable financially for the athlete and their families.
Its time that our youth get supported in opening doors towards financial and entrepreneurial acumen. Â
Combing the new legislation while leveraging technology, student-athletes now have more opportunities that ever to offset the financial weight of going to college and playing sports.  Chloe Mitchell is one example using social media. There are others and many are foreign to anyone who did not grow up in this generation.
Here are 5 ways athletes can generate income with while prioritizing studying and training:
1.     Manage expenses. All the revenue in the world means little without understanding the concept of managing expenses.
2.     Blogging /newsletter. Documenting aspects of interest and expertise to a target market is a way to build a following which can then be monetized.Â
3.     Podcast: While podcasts seem to be all around us, they are not even close to achieving capacity. Many experts talk of the growth curve still ahead. A podcast by student-athletes for student athletes? Another way to build a following and/or monetize via sponsorship?
Can we think of any companies who want to target a student demographic?
4.     Social Media.   With all the negative and evil recently being portrayed on Netflix about social media effects, there are some positives of the medium. The current generation of student-athlete has grown up on social media, and has the desire to build up a credible online following.  It is part of their life. It’s status. It matters to this generation more than any before.  Using this to their advantage and building a following then monetizing it is a silver lining and opportunity that can be taught.  Forget previous generations, consider that the social media impact is moving so fast, incoming freshmen can arrive on campus with a bigger following than outgoing seniors.
5.     Online instruction.  Providing coaching or tutoring and instruction back to younger student athletes can be very well received.
Many of these methods can be combined and can cover multiple skills or disciplines. They have an unlimited revenue potential and not always linked to trading time for money like a job.
Kinesiology majors are naturals to help with physical training.
Psychology majors are naturals for opportunities discussing the barriers and challenges of the student-athlete  or young person today around mental health. A proactive recipe to discuss mental health?
Marketing and business majors can outline topics and skills that can benefit those who want to diversify their income.
Arts major can document the process of photography or illustration as applied to their area of expertise.
English majors can work on documenting via writing or hosting book clubs with an online forum ( with a small membership fee?)
Broadcasting majors are naturals around the execution of a podcasts.
Athletes from the same community or team can partner up skills for something unique.
There are more possibilities than ever before, all it takes is a little stimulation to think about solutions within the framework available.
Adding creative thinking, entrepreneurial, problem solving skills to the already solid foundation in other areas of the student-athlete increases their preparation for the future. Is that not what higher education is supposed to be all about?Â
If the goal of sports participation is to provide a foundation for being a good person contributing to society, then as many pillars in the foundation has possible are needed.
Let’s encourage different ways for our student-athletes to take responsibility for the financial side of their journey.
PLAY. LEAD. Â BE STRONG.
References and resources in documenting this article.
https://an.athletenetwork.com/blog/10-ways-athletes-can-make-extra-money-keep-competing
https://www.naia.org/general/2020-21/releases/NIL_Announcement