NCAA Compliance

Compliance

We take NCAA rules extremely seriously given our mission to foster integrity and shine a light on negative recruiting in our community. We are reviewed by compliance officers each year and cleared. Officers looking to do due diligence might talk to any number of schools on our rowing camps page or in our reports. We’ve found the following information most pertinent to share regarding our firm. We welcome questions and comments.

Are we a “recruiting or scouting service?”

We do not provide or charge institutions for information on prospective student athletes. Our mission is to guide PSAs to colleges that appreciate them. In short, we consider ourselves to be a college counseling firm that maintains contact with collegiate coaches to understand program specific cultures and needs for the character growth and benefit of our clients.

Are we an agency?

We do not collect money from PSAs based on marketing them to institutional athletic staff members. Additionally, we do not base our contracts on promise of institutional financial aid. We charge by time to select the best schools for our clients, help them with the application process, and guide them on their communication with recruiters.

Regarding Rowing Camp "Scholarships"

NCAA bylaw 13.12.1.1.7 is known as the 'open to any and all rule.' It states that everyone must pay the same price for camps unless clearly posted discount guidelines are provided that are open to any and all within the scope of the guidelines. This rule exists to prevent collegiate programs (notably those in 'revenue sports' - football, basketball, etc.) from providing discounted or free admission to sport camps to athletic recruits of interest. However, the bylaw has an unintended consequence: the 'open to any and all rule' prevents efforts at diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Working together with IceMiller, LLP - an NCAA compliance law firm based in Indianapolis - and contacts at the NCAA itself, Sparks has devised a first-come, first-serve, objectively evaluated camp scholarship scheme in order to provide rowing camp access to a small number of individuals who contribute to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the sport of rowing.

Scholarship Criteria

1. Scholarships are awarded on a first come, first serve basis established at the time of registration submission.
2. Applicants are given 1-2 weeks (camp dependent) from the time of registration submission to submit qualifying paperwork items in order to receive a rowing camp scholarship.
3. • Examples of qualifying paperwork items consist of the following objectively evaluated items:
   • - Proof of Free or Reduced Lunch
   • - Proof of residency in a specific geographic region
   • - Self-identification of race/ethnicity that has been historically under-represented in the sport of rowing (ie., non-caucasian).
   • - Submission of an essay (graded on an objective rubric)
4. Qualifying paperwork items, timeline for their submission, and number of scholarship slots are specific to each camp.  

Regarding the "Any and All" Rule and Camp Participation Denials

Sparks reserves the right to deny campers with a history of previous camp discipline and/or other related concerns access to camps staffed by NCAA institutional employees and can provide specific details to compliance officers upon request.