Parents Homeschool choices for NCAA eligibility?

[MunchkinsGymMom]

I am new to your board and mom of a 10yr old L7 gymnast. I also homeschool my kids for a myriad of reasons. My daughter currently has aspirations of competing at a college level. Obviously, a lot can happen between now and then but that is her current goal. As I set out planning her middle/high schooling, I am curious what others are using to help with NCAA eligibility. I have read all the official info but I am looking for advice from parents/girls who are living it. What programs are current/recently graduated students using that are academically challenging as well as meeting NCAA standards? Thanks so much for any direction you can share.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

some other parents may chime in, but, you must defer to the NCAA on this 1. and they change their rules at will.

 

[GymBeeMom]

Yes, what dunno said.Currently K--12 offers courses that are NCAA (but not all are) and many homeschool academies had and are trying to renew, but do not currently have, NCAA eligible courses. You must go through the NCAA eligibility department to ensure your child's homeschool courses meet all their requirements.

 

[MeetDirector]

Not a home school parent, but a parent starting on the NCAA path, I completely second what Dunno said. In this area you must be very, very careful to follow every NCAA Eligibility Center rule regarding eligible course work. Also know that what might be acceptable to your state to grant a diploma, might not be acceptable to the NCAA for eligibility purposes. Plus then there is the whole college admission requirements unique to each college or university. Lucky for you you have some time to learn everything you can. The eligibility center comes into play in the junior year, maybe the sophmore year if you want; before that, it doesn't make much sense.

Good Luck.

 

[bookworm]

In the past year there have been a few athletes who were homeschooled and thought they had met the NCAA requirements , only to be told by their prospective colleges that their coursework did NOT meet the requirements and they were not allowed to sign the NLIs in November!! So, sadly, they have had to forfeit their scholarships at this time...I don't know exactly what happened but the deficits were such that they couldn't even be made up in this entire school year.

I would be very, very careful about any homeschool program you choose. Might you consider a hybrid type of program that could incorporate some traditional schooling as well as homeschooling as your child gets into middle and high school?

 

[gymgal]

We are homeschooling but we likely will either place them in a public high school or find a good online academy that is NCAA compliant. Our state is considering opening their charters to online academies so we may be able be able to go that route when the time comes. we still have at least a couple more years before highschool

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[MunchkinsGymMom]

Thanks for your help! I do not have my kids in public school for other reasons but our schools are also not athlete friendly - no part time attendance, no excused absences for out of state competition, no early check-outs for sports, etc. We have several hybrids in the area but none show as approved on the NCAA eligibility page, nor does the main online charter in our state. It appears Bridgeway Academy is currently compliant with their traditional (not online) program but I assume there must be others. Will the eligibility center give guidance prior to the junior year? I want her to start by 8th grade in the program she will use for high school so I have a year or so to plan. But I would hate to choose something and find I make her ineligible in my attempt to provide her with a better education.

 

[MeetDirector]

The problem is the Eligibility Center can tell you what works for today and probably tomorrow, but much beyond that and they won't know. Coursework is beeing added and removed all the time; thier rules seem to change at whim. From my outside observation, I just don't see the NCAA being overly homeschool friendly. You have to hope that high schools, whether traditional, charter, or online, as well as homeschool programs have done thier homework to get thier programs qualified with the NCAA.

Again, best of luck.

 

[gymgal]

The problem is the Eligibility Center can tell you what works for today and probably tomorrow, but much beyond that and they won't know. Coursework is beeing added and removed all the time; thier rules seem to change at whim. From my outside observation, I just don't see the NCAA being overly homeschool friendly. You have to hope that high schools, whether traditional, charter, or online, as well as homeschool programs have done thier homework to get thier programs qualified with the NCAA.

Again, best of luck.

So if they approve your course study (which you can send to them) , they may come back 3 years later saying it doesn't count?

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[bookworm]

So if they approve your course study (which you can send to them) , they may come back 3 years later saying it doesn't count?

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This is exactly what happened to one of the athletes I referenced in my original post...When we were visiting different campuses on my daughter's visits , the coaches would breathe a sigh of relief when I told them that she "went to school" ...one of the coaches said a statement similar to MeetDirector in that the NCAA was clamping down and wasn't being "homeschool friendly at all"

 

[gymgal]

I subscribe to a blog of sorts for homeschooling high schoolers (we are a few years away but I wanted to be prepared, since my oldest two are already in Some highschool material). the woman talked about ncaa in one article. She didn't go through it but had friends who did and she gave basic links. There is one comment to the article that noted the NCAA has a homeschool liason. The link is below... Hope it helps

http://www.thehomescholar.com/blog/ncaa-101-homeschoolers/6657/


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[mariposa]

That is sad that the NCAA is so far behind in their thinking. They need to realize that homeschooling is getting more mainstream and give some guidelines. Even online schooling is becoming more popular and it seems as if they don't like that either. Guess they just like cookie cutter kids. If your kid doesn't fit the traditional school mold, then they don't want you. They will miss out in some talented athletes with their thinking.

We homeschool for reasons that aren't related to gym and I very glad we do. Love extra time with my kids. Luckily, my daughter isn't the type of kid that will make it to college gym, because it seems the NCAA is difficult as it is, but make it even more difficult for homeschoolers.