Compliance Corner

The report of the Legislative Council meeting which ended today is out. (Kudos to the NCAA staff for the quick turnaround.) You may also need the two attachments from the Legislative Council page. Highlights:

•  Two interps were issued/amended:

Advertising an Institutional Camp or Clinic.  (I)  The Legislative Council determined that an institution may advertise or promote an institutional camp or clinic in any way, provided any camp or clinic advertisement or promotion (e.g., camp brochure, Web site, newspaper or magazine advertisement) stipulates that the camp or clinic is open to any and all entrants (limited only by number, age, grade level and/or gender).  [References: Bylaws 13.4.1.1-(c) (summer-camp advertisements), 13.12.1.2 (attendance restriction) and an official interpretation (10/29/08, Item No. 1), which has been archived)] 

National Team Tryouts and Exception to Outside Competition Regulations.  (I)  The Legislative Council determined that in order for a student-athlete to use the U.S. national team exception to the outside competition regulations to participate as a member of an outside team in an official national team or junior national team tryout, the official tryout must be one in which all student-athletes (as opposed to all athletes) are directly selected to a national team or are required to participate in order to qualify for a subsequent event from which participants will be named to a national team or junior national team that will represent their nation in international competition.  The exception is applicable to an official tryout that is structured as a series of events in which student-athletes must participate in each event (or at least one event in each level) of the series in order to be selected to the national team.  The exception does not apply to events in which student-athletes are only identified for further evaluation at unrelated events for a future national team, such as league competition or events in which no elimination of potential national team participants occurs.  For example, the exception applies to an official tryout in which student-athletes must participate in Event A in order to participate in Event B (or in one of several events at the Event A level in order to participate at the Event B level), and participants in Event B are selected to the national team that will participate in international competition; however, the exception does not apply to participation in Event A if student-athletes are not selected to the national team or if participation in Event A (or other events on the same level) is not required for participation in Event B.  An event still may qualify as an official tryout if the appropriate national governing body has established exemptions based on objective standards (e.g., former Olympic medalists, current World Champion) by which a student-athlete who qualifies for such an exemption is not required to participate in that particular event (or level of events).  [References:  Bylaws 14.7.3.1-(d) (U.S. national team) and 30.8.1 (national-team criteria) and official interpretations (10/18/06, Item No. 1 and 10/15/08, Item No. 1), which have been archived]