Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

What has the typical NCAA compliance process been like for homeschooled student athletes? Join Michael Farris as he talks with one student athlete about her experience today on Home School Heartbeat.

Mike Farris:
My guest again today is Emily Domenech. She's a member of the women's varsity crew team at the University of Virginia. Emily, I'd like you to tell our listeners about the process that you went through two years ago to establish eligibility with the NCAA.


Emily Domenech:
When you start as an NCAA Division I athlete, you have to be cleared through the academic clearinghouse in the NCAA to compete. As a normal high school student, they simply look at your high school record and your grades and then clear you to race. But as a homeschooler, you have to go through a much longer and more complex process to be cleared as an athlete. For me, I had to send in copies of my textbooks and their table of contents, samples of my work in all of my different courses. And the compliance department here at the University of Virginia didn't even really know how to handle getting me cleared to race. It ended up being a long, drawn-out process, and I didn't get cleared to compete until the very last minute. Lucky for me, I did end up getting to compete, but it is a very complicated process for homeschoolers, and that makes it pretty difficult to get cleared as an NCAA athlete.


Mike:
Thank you, Emily. I'm glad it worked out for you. And tomorrow we're going to talk about how the NCAA has now streamlined their compliance rules for homeschoolers. I'm Mike Farris.