NCAA Soccer Draft Restrictions

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recruiting bylaws regulate all recruitment activities and draft procedures between college and university institutions and prospective student-athletes. The NCAA establishes the recruitment period, the contact period, the evaluation period, a quiet period and a dead period. Communication is limited between the coach and prospective student-athlete during the quiet period or dead period. Oral commitments are nonbinding. A National Letter of Intent document guarantees eligible athletes financial assistance for an academic year. These rules apply to recruitment and the draft process in soccer and other major collegiate sports governed by the NCAA.

  1. NCAA Draft Status Restrictions

    • The NCAA restricts amateur student-athletes from participation in a professional draft. A student-athlete loses his qualifications as an amateur athlete in a particular sport, once he declares himself an eligible participant in that specific draft. His entrance into any professional draft relinquishes his status as an amateur player in that particular sport. He may no longer compete in that sport as an amateur athlete. He may, however, compete in other student sports at the college and university level. An amateur soccer player who enters the draft will no longer be considered eligible as an amateur player on a college or university soccer team.

    NCAA Age Restrictions

    • The NCAA was originally designed to protect college and university athletes from serious injuries and death during amateur sports competitions. A specific age restriction in each sport helps prevent serious injury to underage participants. Major League Baseball requires a minimum age of 16 while the National Football League's age minimum is 18. Many leagues provide waivers for amateur athletes who wish to go professional before they reach the minimum age. Neither the U.S. National Soccer Team nor the international governing body FIFA require an athlete to be a minimum age for draft participation. The NCAA benefits from age requirements for professional sports because the amateur athletes often play for NCAA-sanctioned colleges and universities until they reach that minimum age.

    NCAA Recruiting Governance

    • The NCAA governs recruiting in a majority of college and university sports, for men and women. A prospective student-athlete may officially be recruited starting in the ninth grade. The NCAA recruiting rules apply to the draft and recruitment of the prospective student-athlete in soccer, football, baseball and other collegiate sports. The NCAA regulates interaction between the recruiting institution's coach and the prospective student-athlete. The NCAA monitors and sanctions inappropriate exchanges. The acceptance of illegal cash compensation during the collegiate or professional recruitment can lead to elimination of amateur status and criminal investigations.

    NCAA Official Visit Rules

    • A coach may draft a prospective student-athlete during the open recruitment period. No in-person contact or communication may be made between an institution's athletic director and the prospective student-athlete during the dead period. A prospective student-athlete may make unofficial and official visits to the academic institution, in accordance with NCAA recruitment regulations. The recruiting school may provide complimentary tickets to home athletic events on any visit made by the prospective student-athlete. Official visits may include transportation to and from the campus, housing and three meals per day. Official visits are restricted to five visits.