Initial-Eligibility N.C.A.A. Clearinghouse

All high-school athletes wishing to compete in college must register with the Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse. Information about the Clearinghouse can be found in the Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete. The NCAA national office does not handle initial-eligibility certifications. Please do not contact the NCAA national office with inquiries regarding an individual's initial eligibility status, including whether transcripts, student release forms, etc., were received or about when you will be cleared. The Clearinghouse maintains and processes all of the initial-eligibility certifications.

Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse Information

1. High GPA and Test Scores

A good academic record is more important than a good golf record. College coaches are reluctant to select a player that might have trouble staying eligible, so study hard and stay focused. Below are links to the SAT, ACT and TOEFL websites. All college bound high school students should take the SAT and ACT more than once since most students receive higher scores on their second and third attempts. Start taking these tests during your sophomore year, so come recruitment time you will have test scores to include in your resume.

SAT, www.sat.com
ACT, www.act.org
TOEFL, www.ets.org/toefl/index.html (International Students Only)

2. Compete in Nationally Ranked Tournaments

Competing in the top tournaments not only gives you more exposure, the experience gained by playing against the best players on the best courses is invaluable. Cautiously select a tournament schedule that is challenging and fits within your budget. Some tournaments, although large and well known, can be very expensive. Ask other players and parents about tournaments they have competed in and find tournaments that are within your budget, conducted professionally and fun. Below are links to a few golf associations that conduct nationally ranked junior events.

USGA, www.usga.org
AJGA, www.ajga.org
FJT  www.floridajuniortour.org                                                                                                     
High School Events, www.fhsaa.org
NJGS- Junior Golf Scoreboard at www.njgs.com

3. National Rankings

Years ago college coaches would travel to many tournaments during the summer to find possible recruits, but now with so many tournaments and hundreds great players, they rely more on resources like National Junior Golf Scoreboard to locate the top players. Visit the links below to understand how the rankings are determined and select a tournament schedule that will maximize your ranking.

Improve your national ranking by excelling in Nationally Ranked Events
• Junior Golf Scoreboard, www.njgs.com/rankings.asp
• GolfWeek, www.golfweek.com

4. Register with the NCAA Initial Eligibility Clearinghouse

Register with NCAA Initial Eligibility Clearinghouse after your junior year grades have been posted to your transcript to be eligible for an athletic scholarship.

Players should register after the completion of their junior year in high school.
www.ncaaclearinghouse.net

5. Contact Colleges

After your sophomore year compose a list of all prospective colleges (at least 25). Include various different colleges by size, location, difficulty of entry, golf program, ext. Produce a letter of introduction, golf resume, and a video (not necessary) to be mailed to all the coaches on your list. Below are some helpful points to consider on making contact with college coaches.

Letter of Interest
• Introduce yourself; include a brief personal history and your desire to attend the college.
Golf Resume
• Include goals in college, golf accomplishments, upcoming schedule, school accomplishments, and other interests.
• Sample Resume: (Sample Resume)
Video
• Short and simple video (5 minutes) including full swings with Driver, long iron, short iron, some short wedge shots, bunker shots and holing some putts.
Phone Coach ****only if permitted to by Recruiting Regulations****
Follow Up/Thank You Letter

6. Official Campus Visits

Once a school shows interest, discuss a visit with the coach. An official visit is when the college pays for majority of the expenses related to the visit. If a coach is interested, but doesn’t want to use an official visit, try to set up an unofficial visit. Before a visit do some research on the school and prepare many questions to ask the coach and players.

Visit schools on your final list. Meet with the golf coach and tour the campus.
Students are allowed five official visits during their senior year.
Advice during visits:
A visit to a campus could be the most important step. Coaches want to get to know you and see if you'll be able to adapt to college life and most importantly, fit in with the other team members. Try to be very open with the coach, ask questions, show excitement. Remember; coaches spend most of their days around kids just like you, so relax and be yourself.

7. National Letter of Intent

A National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a letter that is basically a one-year binding agreement between you and the college. Once a NLI is signed and submitted you shouldn’t receive any additional recruitment information. A NLI is not necessary, but is recommended. For more information regarding NLI’s follow the links below.

Sign a National Letter of Intent once a school is chosen
www.national-letter.org
FAQ on National Letter of Intent/Financial Aid

8. Financial Aid

College can be very expensive, especially if you attend an out-of-state school. Coaches have a limited number of scholarships to disperse and usually they award partial scholarships to players that earn them through performance. Don’t assume or rely on an athletic scholarship; apply for academic scholarships, grants, and if necessary, loans. Meet with a financial aid counselor for more specific information regarding scholarships, grants, and loans. Follow the links below for more information on financial aid. Remember to apply early!

Take advantage of the many types of financial aid
Golf Scholarship
Discuss with the coach how scholarships are distributed to the players.
FAQ on National Letter of Intent/Financial Aid

9. More Resources and Guides

Utilize the many resources available to ease the college preparation process. Below are links to the most widely used resources.

Ping American College Golf Guide (highly recommended)
• www.collegegolf.com
Red Numbers Golf
• www.rednumbersgolf.com
Junior Golf Scoreboard
• www.njgs.com
AJGA
• www.ajga.org
NCAA
• www.collegegolf.com

10. Don’t Lose Your Eligibility!

Guidelines for Prospects and Their Families

Compliance with NCAA and Ivy rules requires diligence on the part of both the Department of Athletics and Princeton University as a whole. Below is a summary of the basic issues that you may be faced with as a prospective student-athlete.

1. You become a prospective student-athlete if you have started classes for the ninth grade. Before the ninth grade, you become a prospective student-athlete if Princeton provides you (or your relatives or friends) any financial aid or other benefits that the college does not provide to prospective students generally.

2. You become a "recruited" prospective student-athlete at a particular college if any coach or representative of athletics’ interest solicits you or your family for the purpose of securing your enrollment and participation in intercollegiate athletics. Activities by coaches or representatives that trigger recruited status are:

• Paying some or all of your expenses during a visit to campus (known as an "official" visit);
• Arranging an in-person, off-campus encounter with you and/or your parent(s) or legal guardian; or
• Initiating or arranging a telephone contact with you, your family or guardian on more than one occasion for the purpose of recruitment.

General Recruiting Guidelines

The NCAA limits the amount of contact and communication between prospective student-athletes and college coaches. College coaches are only permitted to communicate with prospects at specific times and must abide by their sports’ recruiting calendar.

Letters and emails may be sent to you by college coaches and faculty members after the first day of your junior year in high school or September 1 of that year whichever comes first. A Division I university may provide you with the following printed materials:

• General correspondence, including letters, U.S. Postal Service postcards and institutional note cards;
• Game programs;
• NCAA educational information;
• One athletic publication (media guide or recruiting brochure);
• Official academic, admissions and student services publications published or videotapes produced by Princeton and available to all students;
• Schedule and business cards;
• Questionnaires which may be provided prior to your junior year; and
• Camp brochures which may be provided prior to your junior year.

Phone calls to you from faculty members and coaches are permitted beginning July 1 (Sept. 1 for football) after the completion of your junior year. In addition, football coaches may call a prospect or the prospect's family once during the month of May during the prospect's junior year.

A college coach or faculty member is limited to one telephone call per week to you (or your parents/legal guardians). Unlimited calls may be made to you (or your parents/legal guardians) during the following circumstances.

• The five days immediately before your official visit by the university you will be visiting;
• On the day of a coach's off-campus contact with you;
• During the time beginning with the initial National Letter of Intent signing date in your sport through the two days after the signing date.

A college coach may not send you a text message or send an instant message (i.e., AOL, MSN). In addition, a college coach may not write a message or post a comment to your social network profile (i.e., facebook, myspace).

A "contact" is any face-to-face encounter between you or your parent(s) or legal guardian and an institutional staff member or athletic representative during which any dialogue occurs in excess of an exchange of greeting.

An "evaluation" is any off-campus activity designed to assess your academic qualifications or athletic ability, including any visit to your high school (during which no contact occurs) or the observation of any practice or competition in which you participate. If you are interested in playing a sport at Princeton University, please select the following link and complete an online questionnaire.

Eligibility is not something to take for granted. Be very cautious when presented with gifts or awards for your golf ability. The FHSAA, NCAA and USGA don't share all of the same rules, so be sure to refer to each of them.

Click on the links below for FHSAA NCAA Rules Regulations, Bylaws, and Eligibility Requirements.

NCAA
• http://athleticscholarships.net/ncaaeligibility.htm
• www2.ncaa.org/legislation_and_governance/rules_and_bylaws/

FHSAA
• www.fhsaa.org
• FHSAA Rules (PDF Format)

USGA
USGA Rules of Amateur Status for Juniors (PDF Format)

College PGM Programs