NCISAA approves NIL policy for 2024-25 school year
February 5, 2024 / Athletic Administration
The North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association (NCISAA) recently announced the adoption of a Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policy.
The new policy will take effect for the 2024-25 school year.
“We recognize that the sports world is changing and will continue to assess best practices for our schools,’’ said Homar Ramirez, executive director of the NCISAA, in an issued statement.Under the policy, student-athletes must keep NIL deals and their team athletic participation separate and schools cannot participate in helping student-athletes secure deals.
A recent story from CityViewNC.com detailed the NCISAA decision to approve NIL opportunities. Below is an excerpt from the CityViewNC.com story.
The N.C. High School Athletic Association approved a similar policy last year, but it was struck down by the state legislature, which decreed those decisions needed to be handled by the state board of education.
NCHSAA athletes are still prohibited from pursuing NIL deals, a situation that veteran coaches like Pine Forest football coach Bill Sochovka feel has the potential to cause problems for NCHSAA schools.
With the recently approved voucher system that allows North Carolina students to use taxpayer money to attend private schools, Sochovka fears the potential for a migration of middle-class students with athletic talent to the private schools isn’t far off.
Once that happens, Sochovka fears public school sports could become a desert, similar to the divide between Memphis, Tennessee, public schools, and private schools portrayed in the movie “Blindside.”
He said the NIL policy could also change the way a sponsor looks at team sports. Sochovka said he spoke to a local businessman who said if he became involved in sponsoring an athlete, he wouldn’t be as concerned about the team’s won-lost record as he was about how well the athlete he was funding actually performed on the field.