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Prospective Student

Commission On Athletics BYLAW 2

Recruitment of Student Athletes

2.1 Athletic Recruiting

Athletic recruiting is defined as any solicitation of an individual, a member of his/ her family, legal guardian, or coach by a college staff member or by a representative of the college's interests to encourage enrollment in that institution for the purpose of athletic participation. The following are allowable activities for recruiting within a college's recruiting area:

A. Initiating or arranging first contact with a prospect, family member, legal guardian, or coach whether in person, by telephone, or by correspondence.
B. Providing transportation to the campus. (This does not apply to a student being recruited under an out-of-state waiver.)
C. Visiting a prospect, family member, or legal guardian.
D. Providing information regarding employment opportunities, matriculation, housing, financial aid, etc.
E. Any form of correspondence sent to a prospect, family member, or legal guardian; such as e-mail, letters, memos, news releases, or newspaper articles.
F. Arranging or providing for a meal or meals during a campus visit.
2.1.1 If not specifically permitted in 2.1, the activity is disallowed.

2.2 Representatives and Agents

2.2.1 All things prohibited by this Constitution to colleges, faculty, staff, and representatives are also prohibited to anyone acting as a representative or agent of the college; i.e., non-employees, volunteers, alumni, boosters, relatives, friends, students, and any others speaking for or on behalf of the college and its programs.
2.2.2

An agent is anyone (college staff member, parent/relative/friend of an athlete or college, alumnus(i), booster, high school coach/teacher, etc.) whose actions are designed to benefit a certain athletic program. The most common activities of an agent are:

A. Making initial contact with out-of-recruiting-area athletes for the purpose of recruiting them to a specific athletic program that is outside their recruiting area.
B. Making contact with out-of-recruiting-area coaches and asking them to contact athletes out of their recruiting area.
C. High school coaches who personally refer and encourage their athletes to attend a specific out-of-recruiting-area/out-of-state community college and/or contact the out-of-recruiting-area community college on a student's behalf.
2.2.3 Agents may be encouraged by an athletic department's program or they may exist without the knowledge of the program. In the latter case, as soon as the college becomes aware of an agent, it must take steps to stop the activity.
2.2.4 Only an out-of-recruiting area student athlete can make first contact with a community college. This must be documented (Form C) at the time of first contact by the community college staff member contacted.
2.2.5 A college is responsible for the actions of any person acting as an agent of the college.

2.3 First Contact

First contact is defined as an unsolicited inquiry. A college's employee and/or representative may make an unsolicited inquiry of any prospect who resides in that California community college's recruiting area. However, any student who is not currently an enrolled and actively attending student at another California community college, regardless of residence, shall not be athletically recruited.

A. A district's "recruiting area" is defined as the district itself and its contiguous community college districts.
B. Contiguous districts are those that share a common geographical boundary with another community college district.
C.

If a district's recruiting area, as defined above, is perceived by the district to be inequitable, the district's chief executive officer may make a Request for a Redefinition of Recruiting Area. The request is made in a letter addressed to the State Commissioner. The State Commissioner shall make a recommendation to the COA Board that shall have the final decision. A district may request a redefinition of recruiting area based upon a combination of the following:

  1. Fifty (50) percent or more of the district's latest fall enrollment (head count) reside outside the originally defined recruiting area, and
  2. The number of high schools which offer athletic programs in the district's originally defined recruiting area is 75 percent or less than the average number of high schools offering athletic programs in the recruiting areas of the other districts in its conference.
D. Upon verification of the data, the State Commissioner will make a recommendation to the COA Board that may redefine the recruiting area. E. The COA Board will insure that any redefinition of recruiting area results in reciprocity for all the districts involved.
F. For the purposes of this section, the following are not considered to be enrolled in and attending at another community college:
  1. A student enrolled in and attending summer school and/or intercession at another college.
  2. A student enrolled in and attending an online course or course offered by another college.
  3. A high school student concurrently enrolled in and attending another college.
2.4 Contact from Outside a District's Recruiting Area

2.4.1 If a student from outside a district's recruiting area makes an unsolicited inquiry (first contact) with a college regarding athletic participation, Form C, Out-ofRecruiting Area Student Contact Record, is to be filled out on the first person-toperson visit within a district's recruiting area. This Form C will be kept on file in the athletic director's office.
2.4.2 The only permissible response to an inquiry from a student living outside a district's recruiting area is to provide information. Any aspect of the college's programs, including athletics, as well as any other pertinent information, such as housing, employment opportunities, financial aid, registration procedures, etc., may be provided to the prospect. Continuing communications, by phone or mail, may exist between the college staff and the prospect, but person-to-person dialog may only take place within the district's recruiting area.
2.4.3

At no time may athletic recruiting activities take place outside a district's recruiting area. If an "incidental contact" initiated by the student athlete occurs, the coach or representative shall:

A. Be courteous.
B. Provide only his/her name and the college address and office telephone number of the head coach.
C. Request the athlete to make contact during business hours.
D. Inform the colleges of the district of residence of the contact using Form C.
2.4.4 None of the recruiting activities allowed for prospects in a district's recruiting area are permitted for students living outside a district's recruiting area with the exception of the normal process of providing information by way of the telephone or by correspondence.

2.5 Out-of-State Recruiting

2.5.1 Out-of-state recruiting is prohibited.
2.5.2

Upon written request from the district's chief executive officer to the State Commissioner, a district may be granted a waiver to the restriction against out-ofstate recruiting, if the State Commissioner verifies that the district's fall enrollment (head count) in the most recently completed academic year was 5000 or less, AND

A. The number of high schools which offer athletic programs in the district's recruiting area is less than the statewide average of high schools per recruiting area, OR
B. The district shares a geographic boundary with another state.

2.5.3

Upon verification of the data, the State Commissioner will make a recommendation to the COA Board, which may grant a waiver of the out-of-state recruiting prohibition.
2.5.4 Once a waiver has been approved by the COA Board, it will be valid for five (5) academic years beginning July 1 following the Board's approval.
2.5.5 A district may request subsequent waivers.

2.6 High School Data

The State Commissioner shall periodically update and maintain a list of the number of high schools offering athletic programs in each community college district's recruiting area.

2.7 Out-of-Recruiting Area Evaluation of Athletes

2.7.1 Members of the institution's coaching staff, for the purposes of evaluation only, may attend the out-of-recruiting area contests of out-of-recruiting area prospects who have made first contact.
2.7.2

During the out-of-recruiting area evaluation of a prospect, the coach or representative may not:

A. Mingle with out-of-recruiting area participants at any time before, during, or after the contest.
B. Mingle with out-of-recruiting area coaches at any time before, during, or after the contest.
C. Wear any college-identifying attire such as a hat, shirt, jacket, or any other item that is associated with the college he/she represents.
D. Meet with the out-of-recruiting area athlete's parents, family, or legal guardian at any location outside the college's district.
E. Commit any other act that may be construed as a recruiting activity.

2.8 Dissemination of Recruitment Bylaw

2.8.1 The college president. working through the appropriate athletic administrator or director, is responsible for ensuring that the college is in compliance with this Bylaw on athletic recruitment.
2.8.2 All college personnel, representatives, and agents approved by the athletic program to be involved in athletic recruiting shall attend a certification and information meeting regarding the Constitution at least once a year. A Form R-2,

PDF Recruitment of Student Athletes

For more information, contact the Sports Information Coordinator.