Compliance Office

Boosters

Guide for Boosters and Alumni

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is the national governing body for amateur collegiate sports in the United States. As a member in good standing of the NCAA, Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) is obligated to abide by NCAA rules and regulations governing the eligibility, amateur status, and recruiting of student-athletes. Under these rules, boosters of the University are just as responsible for rules compliance as are our coaches and staff members. Thus, the Department of Athletics must take every effort to educate those supporting our programs.

Who are FGCU's boosters?

"Booster" is the common term for individuals the NCAA defines as "representatives of athletics interests." A representative of an institution’s athletics interests is an individual who is known (or should have been known) by a member of the institution’s executive or athletics administration to:

• Have participated in or to be a member of an agency or organization, including corporate entities (e.g., apparel and equipment companies), promoting the institution’s intercollegiate athletics program;
• Have made financial contributions to the athletics department or to an athletics booster organization of that institution;
• Be assisting or to have been requested (by the athletics department staff) to assist in the recruitment of prospects;
• Be assisting or to have assisted in providing benefits to enrolled student-athletes or their families; or
• Have been involved otherwise in promoting the institution’s athletics program.

As a booster, FGCU is responsible for anything you do relating to prospective and enrolled student-athletes, their families or friends, whether it is by accident or on purpose. Once you become a booster, you retain that identity indefinitely.

Rules Governing Prospective Student-Athletes

A prospective student-athlete ("prospect") is a student who has started classes for the ninth grade. It is possible for a younger student to be considered a prospect under certain conditions so it is best to treat all young student-athletes as prospects. A prospect remains a prospect even after signing a National Letter of Intent to attend a particular institution or enrolling in a preparatory school or junior college. Additionally, any student enrolled in a four-year college who has been given a release to transfer is considered a prospect and all applicable NCAA legislation applies. An individual remains a prospect and all NCAA legislation regarding prospects applies until (a) the individual reports for regular squad practice, (b) the individual officially registers and is enrolled, or (c) the prospect attends a class in any regular term.

1. You are prohibited from making in-person on- or off-campus recruiting contacts with, writing to, or calling prospects or their relatives or legal guardians. Alumni who are part of the Office of Admissions’ Alumni Recruitment Team may have contact with prospect-aged students provided the content of the contact relates to FGCU in general and all specific athletically-related questions are referred to the appropriate coach. Members of the Alumni Recruitment Team may discuss FGCU athletics in general terms as a part of the overall FGCU program.
   1. A contact is any face-to-face encounter with a prospective student-athlete or his/her parents/legal guardians during which any dialogue occurs in excess of an exchange of a greeting. Any face-to-face encounter that is prearranged and that takes place on the grounds of the prospect’s school or at the site of competition or practice is considered a contact, regardless of the conversation that occurs.
2. You may not entertain, buy a complimentary meal for, transport to on- or off-campus events, or expend any funds on the prospect or his/her guardians, relatives, or friends.
3. Contacts between a prospect and you related to permissible pre-enrollment activities (e.g., summer employment arrangements) after the prospect signs the National Letter of Intent are permissible.
4. You may view a prospect’s contest on your initiative, subject to the understanding that you may not contact the prospect. You are prohibited from contacting the prospect’s coach, principal, or counselor in an attempt to evaluate the prospect, as well as from visiting the prospect’s school to pick up film or transcripts pertaining to the evaluation of the prospect’s academic or athletics ability.
5. You may contact a FGCU coach if you know a talented student-athlete who might benefit our program or who is already interested in attending FGCU. Feel free to send recommendation letters, newspaper clippings, or similar information about prospects to coaches.
6. You may not contribute to the payment of registration fees for prospects to attend sports summer camps.
7. You may not mail anything including newspaper clippings, posters, programs, etc. to prospects or their families.
8. You may not transport, entertain, or provide expenses for a high school, preparatory school, or two-year college coach.

Rules Governing Current Student-Athletes

1. Unless expressly authorized by NCAA legislation, you may not make any special arrangement or provide any special inducement for a student-athlete. Simply put, you cannot treat a student-athlete any different from a non-athlete. Inducements (extra benefits) that are prohibited include but are not limited to the following: cash, loans, promise of employment after college, special discounts or payment arrangements on loans, involvement in arrangement for free or reduced charges for professional or personal services, use of an automobile, providing transportation to or from a summer job or to any other site, signing or co-signing a note for a loan, the loan or gift of money or other tangible items (e.g., clothes, cars, jewelry, electronic/stereo equipment), guarantees of bond, any financial aid other than that administered by the institution, the promise of financial aid for postgraduate education, and free or reduced cost housing arrangements.
2. You may not allow a student-athlete to use a phone or credit card without charge or at a reduced cost.
3. You may provide summer employment provided the student-athlete is paid only for work actually performed and at a rate commensurate with the going rate in that locality for similar services. Transportation related to the job may not be provided unless it is provided to all employees in that particular job.
4. You may provide an occasional family home meal. The meal must be provided in an individual’s home and must be restricted to infrequent and special occasions.
5. You may not buy Christmas, birthday, or other gifts or provide awards for athletic performance to any student-athlete.

What if there is a violation?

Violations of NCAA legislation may result in the ineligibility of the involved prospect/student-athlete at FGCU. In addition, multiple violations can jeopardize an entire program. Provisions of extra benefits can result in the institution being placed on probation or forfeiture of games, revenues, and/or championships. As a booster, you may be given certain benefits or privileges associated with your contributions; any such benefits or privileges may be withheld if you engage in conduct that is determined to be a violation of NCAA legislation.