College and Athletic Eligibility

College Athletics Eligibility

Students considering college athletics are urged to keep in touch with Mrs. Dudley in the career center regarding visiting colleges, NCAA, and sport resumes.  They should also communicate their college student-athlete interests to their coaches, the athletic director, and their high school guidance counselor. 

NCAA Requirements

Students hoping to participate in NCAA Division I & II athletics must be approved as eligible by the NCAA clearinghouse.   Be sure to use the current standards. Athletes can initiate this process by filing an NCAA clearinghouse Student Release Form as soon as possible following junior year.   These forms can be obtained in the Career Center from Mrs. Dudley or a student can register on line at www.ncaa.org.  A $30.00 registration fee must be paid at the time of registration.  (the website takes credit cards).  Once you have filed with NCAA clearinghouse please notify Mrs. Dudley, as a transcript needs to be sent to the clearinghouse as well. You may also contact the NCAA Clearinghouse at 1-877-262-1492.

24-Hour Voice Response System is available to check the status of your file using a touch- tone phone by calling 319/339-3003. To access the system, you must have selected a PIN.

SAT and ACT

All athletes are encouraged to take the SAT and ACT tests during their junior year. Many college coaches will refuse to talk with students until these scores have become available.  It also provides time for retakes during senior year. In addition, State ACT scores are not accepted only National ACT scores.

Check list for the student athlete-Junior year

1.   List all the colleges/universities you would like to attend

2 Develop your own sport resume

3 Obtain recommendations form coaches, teachers, and counselors (academic, sport and character references are important)

      4. Mail sport resume and recommendations with a cover letter to all coaches at the schools for

which you want to play your sport

      5.   Register with NCAA following junior year. (You may register on- line, however, you will need a valid credit to do so: $30.00 fee)

NCAA Course Qualifications

NCAA accepts certain course for the student/athlete.  NCAA approves of  “core” classes for those students participating in NCAA sports.  It is the student’s responsibility to keep track of the required coursework for NCAA uses only unweighted GPA.  The list for the current year can be found on page 71 of this booklet, along with the requirements for division.

Please check with the Career/College Counselor or  the guidance office to make sure you have the appropriate courses. Not all classes offered at SSHS are accepted by the NCAA.

Seven Points to Remember………

1. The requirements for eligibility to participate at Division I differ from those required at Division II.

2. If you have been “home schooled” during all of Grades 9-12, you do not have to register with the Clearinghouse.  Your certification status will be determined through an initial-eligibility waiver. Please contact the college or university you plan to attend for more information about the waiver process.

Seven Points to Remember……… continued

      3.  NCAA academic committees are vested with the authority to grant waivers of the initial-eligibility

             requirements based on objective evidence that demonstrates circumstances in which a

             student's overall academic record warrants the waiver of the normal application of the

             legislation.

4. An NCAA institution on behalf of the student must file initial-eligibility waivers.

5. Correspondence and independent study courses may be used to meet the 13 core-course requirements provided the following conditions are met:

A. The course meets all requirements for a core course.

B. The instructor and the student have access to one another during the duration of the course for purposes of teaching, evaluating and providing assistance to the student;

C. Evaluation of the student’s work is conducted by the appropriate academic authorities in accordance with the high school’s established academic policies; and

D. The course is acceptable for any student and is placed on the high-school transcript.

6. Courses taken in the eighth grade may not be used to satisfy the core-curriculum  requirements, regardless of the course content or level.

7. Students enrolling  in a Division I institution generally may not use courses taken after high-school graduation to meet core-curriculum requirements. (Note: Students with NCAA – approved diagnosed disabilities may use courses taken after graduation but before full-time college enrollment.)

The Student Athlete

Do you have  the personality to be a student athlete?

1. Can juggle training time and study time; limited social life other than with teammates?

2. Can adjust to fewer vacations than the normal college student?  One week at Christmas rather than four---- many college athletes play tournaments during vacation time.

3. Do you have the ability to train/practice when your team is not practicing or playing (summers and vacations)?

4. Do you have the ability to travel for play and stay on task with your studies?

5. Are you Division I, II, or III category athlete? (Qualifications for Division III sports is far less than DI) check out these qualifications out on the NCAA website or the handout on NCAA and qualifications in the Career/College Center..

High School Athletics

In order to demonstrate to colleges that you have what is needed to be successful in intercollegiate sports, you must be successful in high school sports. Steamboat Springs High School activities and sports are governed by the Colorado High School Athletic Association.

        The CHSAA Guidelines are as follows:

1. The student must enroll in at least five classes, both semesters before and during participation.

2. The student cannot fail more than one class per semester in order to participate.

3. A student may not participate in the upcoming year if they reach the age of 19 prior to August 1.

4. Any student who has attended more than eight semesters is ineligible for high school athletics.

Steamboat Springs School District’s “No Pass-No Play” Policy states as follows: All high school students participating in any extracurricular activity must be passing all classes in order to be eligible to participate in such activity. “ “Extracurricular activity” is defined as the performance, but not practice, for any activity sanctioned by the school and occurring outside of the normal class period/school day or beyond the high grounds.  Any student who is failing in any class on any Friday will not be allowed to participate in any extracurricular activity during the following week (Monday – Sunday inclusive).  Students should be aware of specific eligibility requirements for all school-related activities.

Students, who want to play sports at a Division I or II College/ University, must be certified through the NCAA Clearinghouse. Late in their junior year or early in the senior year, students must register with the NCAA. This is done online at the NCAA website at http://www.ncaaclearinghouse.net/. The registration fee in 2006 was $50. Students must request that each high school attended send an official transcript to the NCAA.

NCAA Eligibility Fact* Sheet

*This is a brief summary of NCAA information and is not official or complete. Please refer to the official NCAA guide.

Please familiarize yourself with the NCAA guide and requirements. The NCAA initial-eligibility rules initial-eligibility rules changed with the class of 2007 requiring student athletes to have ACT/SAT scores submitted directly from the testing companies, no longer accepting test scores from high school transcripts. In brief the requirements are as follows:

changed with the class of 2007 requiring student athletes to have ACT/SAT scores submitted directly from the testing companies, no longer accepting test scores from high school transcripts. In brief the requirements are as follows:

Division I                                                                                                                     Division II

16 Core Courses: Class of 2008                                                           14 Core Courses:

4 years of English                                                                                3 years of English

3 years of mathematics (Algebra I or higher)                                                         2 years of mathematics (Algebra I or higher)

2 years of natural/physical science (1 year of lab if offered                                    2 years of natural/physical science (1 year of lab if

by high school)    offered by high school

1 year of additional English, mathematics or natural   2 years of additional English, mathematics or naturalphysical science    physical science

2 years of social science   2 years of social science

4 years of additional courses (from any area above,   3 years of additional courses (from any area above, foreign language or non doctrinal religion/philosophy   foreign language or non doctrinal religion/philosophy

3 years of additional courses (from any area above, foreign language or non doctrinal religion/philosophy

Please note: NCAA uses the unweighted GPA.

The NCAA must approve the "core" classes listed above; SSHS' list of approved classes is listed below. NCAA guides are downloadable from the NCAA website. If you have further questions, please talk with your coach and counselor. It is the student's responsibility to keep track of the required coursework for NCAA.

English

AP English

Adv. Speech

Amer. Literature English 9

Lit/ Word Studies

Speech

World Lit.

Mod .Writing/ Lit.

Writer’s Workshop

Mathematics

Advanced Math

AlGeo I

AlGeo II

AlGeo III

AlGeo IV

AP Calculus

Discrete Math

Pre-Calculus

Nat/Phy Sci

AP Biology

AP Chemistry

Biology

Chemistry

Intro to Physical

Science (IPS)

Physics

Physiology

Fundamentals of

Physics (FOP)

Add.Core Courses

French I

French II

French III

French IV

AP French

Spanish I

Spanish II

Spanish III

Spanish IV

AP Span