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Lees-McRae College

The Official Site of the LEES-McRAE BOBCATS

Lees-McRae College is dedicated to upholding honesty, integrity, and ethical conduct. With that in mind, the Office of Compliance strives to educate coaches, and support staff, student-athletes, and supporters of Lees-McRae Athletics on the legislation of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Conference Carolinas to abide by those guidelines and rules. Everyone affiliated with the Lees-McRae Athletic Department is expected to conduct themselves ethically and follow the rules and bylaws set forth by the NCAA and Conference Carolinas. Information for student-athletes, coaches, and boosters is listed below. For more information on NCAA Compliance or with questions, please contact the Office of Compliance.


What is a Representative of Athletics Interest (booster)?

The NCAA defines a booster as an individual who:

  • Is a member of the institution's athletics booster club
  • Has made financial donations or contributions to the athletic department or booster club
  • Provides benefits to prospective student-athletes or currently enrolled student-athletes
  • Has been involved in promoting the athletics program at Lees-McRae College
Once an individual has been identified as a booster, that individual will always be considered a booster and can't lose that status.



As a booster, what can you do?

Boosters are allowed to:
  • Speak to a prospective student-athlete on the telephone, only if the student-athlete initiates the phone call. The call can't be for recruiting purposes. Any questions regarding athletic information should be directed to the Athletic Department.
  • Attend athletic events at high schools or junior college.
  • Attend public events, such as awards banquets, in which prospective student-athletes attend. No recruiting efforts should be made.
  • Send coaches at Lees-McRae press clippings or other information on the prospective student-athlete. Once a member of the coaching staff has received these materials, they can decide to make contact with the student-athlete.
  • Can employ a student-athlete. Pay must be for actual work and pay should be comparable to employees who aren't student-athletes. Employment should be approved by compliance personnel.
If there are questions about any other permissible actions, please contact compliance personnel before taking those actions to ensure violations aren't being committed.


Prohibited actions:

Boosters should not:
  • Use funds to entertain student-athletes, their families, or friends
  • Use the name, picture, or appearance of an enrolled student-athlete to advertise or promote sales or a service
  • Use the name, picture, or appearance of an enrolled student-athlete to promote a charitable or educational initiative unless it has been approved by compliance personnel
  • Provide payment for the expense or loan an automobile for a student-athlete for any purpose
Provide awards or gifts directly to a student-athlete or their family or friends for an athletic performance. Athletic department officials must approve awards given by boosters and the awards must meet NCAA award requirements.


Glossary of Definitions:

Prospective Student-Athlete:
  • The NCAA defines a prospective student-athlete as any student who has started classes for the ninth grade. In addition, a student who has not started the ninth grade becomes a prospect if the institution provides that student (or the student's relatives and friends) any financial assistance or other benefit not provided to prospective students in general.

Student-Athlete:
  • A student-athlete is a student whose enrollment was solicited by a member of the athletics staff or other representative of athletics interests with a view toward the student's ultimate participation in the intercollegiate Athletics Department. Any other student becomes a student-athlete only when the student reports for an intercollegiate squad that is under the jurisdiction of the Athletics Department. A student is not deemed a student-athlete solely on the basis of prior high school athletics participation.

Contact:
  • A contact is any face-to-face encounter between a prospect or the prospect's parent or legal guardian and an institutional staff member or athletics representative during which any dialogue occurs in excess of an exchange of a greeting. Any such face-to-face encounter that is pre-arranged or that takes place on the grounds of the prospect's educational institution or at the site of organized competition or practice involving the prospect's high school, two-year college or all-star team shall be considered a contact, regardless of the conversation that occurs.

Evaluation:
  • An evaluation is any off-campus activity designed to assess the academic qualifications or athletics ability of a prospective student-athlete, including any visit to a prospective student-athlete's educational institution (during which no contact occurs) or the observation of any practice or competition at any site at which the prospective student-athlete participates.

Recruiting:
  • Recruiting is any solicitation of a prospect or the prospect's family by a university staff member or by a representative of the University's athletics interests (you) for the purpose of securing the prospect's enrollment at the University and/or participation in the Athletics Department.

Extra Benefit:
  • An extra benefit is any special arrangement by an institutional employee or a representative of the institution's athletics interests to provide a student-athlete or the student-athlete's relative or friend a benefit not expressly authorized by NCAA legislation. Receipt of a benefit by student-athletes or their relatives or friends is not a violation of NCAA legislation, if it is demonstrated that the same benefit is generally available to the institution's students or their relatives or friends or to a particular segment of the student body (e.g., foreign students, minority students) determined on a basis unrelated to athletics ability.

Quiet Period:
  • A quiet period is that period of time when it is permissible to make in-person recruiting contacts only on the member institution's campus. No in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts or evaluations may be made during the quiet period.

Dead Period:
  • A dead period is that period of time when it is not permissible to make in-person recruiting contacts or evaluations on or off the member institution's campus or to permit official or unofficial visits by prospective student-athletes to the institution's campus. The provision of complimentary admissions to a prospective student-athlete during a dead period is prohibited, except as provided in Bylaw 13.7.2.5 for a prospective student-athlete who visits an institution as part of a group. During such a dead period, a coaching staff member may not serve as a speaker at or attend a meeting or banquet at which prospective student-athletes are in attendance, except as provided in Bylaw 13.1.9, and may not visit the prospective student-athletes' educational institutions. It remains permissible, however, for an institutional staff member to write or telephone prospective student-athletes during such a dead period.

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