NCAA Key Definitions
A student shall not be eligible for intercollegiate competition in a particular sport if the student-athlete (or parents/relatives):
• negotiates, signs or enters into any written or oral agreement with an agent;
• accepts or receives any extra benefits from an agent or anyone who wishes to represent the student-athlete;
• uses their athletic skill for pay, or for the promise of pay;
• competes with a professional sports team or receives any compensation from a professional sports team; or
• receives an extra benefit that is not available to the general student population.
A "booster" is an individual or business who is known (or who should have been known) by a member of the UCLA athletic department to have engaged in any of the following:
• participated in or member of an organization promoting UCLA Athletics;
• contributed financially to the UCLA Athletic Department or to any UCLA Athletic booster groups;
• helped recruit prospects, even if UCLA did not request the assistance;
• provided NCAA-permissible benefits to enrolled student-athletes or their families; or
• promoted the UCLA athletics program in other ways.
Once identified as a booster, the individual or business retains that identity for life. Under NCAA rules, UCLA is responsible for the actions of all its athletic representatives.
Any face-to-face encounter between a prospect or his/her parents/legal guardians and an institutional staff member or booster during which any conversation in excess of a greeting occurs. Any face-to-face meeting that is prearranged and takes place on the prospect's campus or at the prospect's competition site is considered a contact regardless of the conversation that occurs.
An extra benefit is any special arrangement by an institutional employee or a booster to provide a student-athlete, or his/her friends or relatives, a benefit not authorized by the NCAA. The benefits a student-athlete may NOT receive include, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:
• money, special discount, payment arrangement or credit on a purchase (airline ticket, clothes) or service (laundry, typing);
• free or reduced-cost professional services not available on the same basis to the general student body;
• use of a telephone, pager or credit card for personal reasons without charge or at a reduced rate;
• entertainment services (movie tickets, dinners, use of car) from commercial agencies (theaters, restaurants, car dealers) without charge or at reduced rates, or free or reduced-cost admission to professional athletics contests from professional sports organizations, unless such services are available to the student body in general;
• guarantee of bond;
• signing or cosigning a note with an outside agency to arrange a loan;
• preferential treatment, benefits or services based on his/her athletics reputation or skill or pay-back potential as a future professional;
• free or reduced-cost athletics equipment, supplies or clothing directly from a manufacturer or commercial enterprise;
• free or reduced cost room and/or board;
• payment or other compensation for work not performed or at unreasonable levels for the work performed;
• employment arrangements for a student-athlete or prospect's relatives or friends;
• payment of registration fees or other expenses to attend UCLA sports camp or clinic;
• use of personal property (boats, summer homes, cars, computers, stereos);
• holiday or birthday presents;
• promise of employment after college graduation;
• purchase of items or services from a prospect/student-athlete or their relatives at inflated prices; and
• payment or arrangements for payment of transportation costs incurred by a student-athlete or prospect's relatives or friends; or
• anything given because an individual is a student-athlete.
An individual who has either started classes for the ninth grade OR who has received any benefit from UCLA or a booster. Actions taken by athletic staff that cause an individual to become a prospective student-athlete include:
• providing a prospect an expense-paid visit to a collegiate institution;
• having an arranged in-person encounter with the individual;
• initiating or arranging telephone contact with the individual or a member of his/her family; or
• providing an individual (or his/her relatives or friends) any financial assistance or other benefits that the institution does not provide to prospective students generally (i.e. tickets to an athletic competition)
Any solicitation of a prospect (or the prospect's family members) by the UCLA athletic staff or a booster to encourage him/her to enroll at UCLA and participate in the UCLA athletic program. ONLY Bruin coaches who have passed the NCAA Recruiting Examination may be involved in recruiting prospects.
