Many Colorado high school athlets are unfamiliar with the NAIA. If you'd like to know more about the organization, and what it has to offer, here's a chance to make that happen.
Editor's Note: Following my more recent series of articles on college recruiting, I heard from an old friend and past contributor to Colorado Track XC--Tracy Jex. Tracy was concerned that there were a lot of things that most athletes from Colorado simply don't understand about the NAIA. Tracy offered to write one or more articles giving a broader picture of what the NAIA is about. In the spirit of putting information out there to help prospective high school graduates and their parents be better informed about the options before them, I agreed to give Tracy some "air time" on Colorado Track XC. I hope you find some value in what he has to say.
Tracy Jex was born and raised in Colorado. He competed four years at Longmont High School, two years at Western State College, and finished up his collegiate career at Colorado Christian University, earning a BA in History. Tracy went on to receive his Master’s Degree in Human Performance and Physical Education from Adams State University. Tracy has 13 years of coaching experience at both the high school and collegiate levels, coaching at Longmont High School, Mead High School, Colorado Christian University, and Hannibal LaGrange University. In the past two years at HLGU, Tracy has coached an NAIA National Champion in the 60m hurdles, 7 NAIA All-Americans (1 cross country, 6 track and field), four NAIA All-Academic teams, and four NAIA Academic All-Americans.
For the past two years, I have been head track and cross country coach at Hannibal-LaGrange University, a member of the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics).
In that role, I often talk to recruits who are unfamiliar with the NAIA and what it has to offer athletes who want to compete at the collegiate level. This lack of familiarity has led to some questions and misconceptions about the NAIA in the track and field/cross country community. My hope is that through this article (or possibly a series of articles) I can inform you about the NAIA and give you a college coach’s perspective on running, recruiting, and life in intercollegiate athletics.
1. What is the NAIA? – As a coach who talks frequently with recruits, I get this question a lot. Many of the recruits I have talked to know about the NCAA, but realtively few, and especially those in the West, know that the NAIA is an organization much like the NCAA in many respects. The NAIA is a governing body in charge of putting on and regulating intercollegiate athletics. Based out of Kansas City, the NAIA is an organization of over 300 two-year and four-year institutions. In track and field/cross country those institutions compete together at three different National Championships; cross country, indoor, and outdoor track and field. In many of the team sports they are split into Division I and Division II. Many of the institutions that make up the NAIA are located in the Midwest and tend to be small private religious or liberal arts schools.
The NAIA separates itself from the NCAA by its five core values. Those values include; sportsmanship, leadership, integrity, respect and responsibility. The main goal of athletics at the NAIA level is developing character through athletic experience. Instilling these values is at the heart of, or should be at the heart of, every institution in the NAIA. That makes the NAIA a great place for any runner, especially a runner who is looking to compete at a National Championship level. You can find out more about the NAIA, some of its history and facts and figures at http://www.naia.org.
2.The NAIA is not competitive. – I think that this is a misconception from many track and cross country athletes, coaches, and parents. In reality, the NAIA is quite comparable to the NCAA Division II or III level. The difference between NCAA Division I and the others is in recruiting. Typically, Division I teams recruit high numbers of athletes knowing that a smaller percentage will survive the physical and mental stress of their training programs. Within the NCAA Division II and III and the NAIA, there is a greater opportunity for an athlete who has a lot of potential but is in need of some development. As far as competition, each school will run a different type of schedule. Some NAIA schools will primarily run in meets with other NAIA schools. At HLG, about half of our meets will be at large Division I schools, like the University of Indiana, the Kansas Relays, etc. Each program is run differently, just like in any other division. If you’re looking at an NAIA school, just make sure that the coach’s philosophy is in line with your own.
3. The NAIA doesn’t offer athletic scholarships. – This is a misunderstanding that I hear a lot when talking to recruits. The answer is, yes, the majority of NAIA schools do offer athletic scholarships. I believe one reason that I get this question is because athletes have talked with a Division III school (Division III schools don’t offer athletic scholarships) and think that the NAIA is similar to NCAA Division III.
NAIA institutions are very competitive with what they offer and scholarships are renewable each year. Many of the parents and athletes out there want to run at a big Division I school. I know that it was my dream, I wanted to run for Oregon or Nebraska, but reality is that many of those schools are very selective in whom they recruit and to whom they offer money. Those scholarships can be very limited, especially If you are a male athlete. If you are a female athlete you may have more of an opportunity to earn a scholarship, but most Division I athletes will have a walk-on status, at least initially.
Every athlete at HLG is on some level of athletic scholarship and most receive an academic scholarship as well. Athletic scholarships at the NAIA level will help ease the cost of school as the cost of private school is higher than a state school. There are plenty of athletic scholarships out there for track and cross country athletes at smaller NAIA schools.
4. The NAIA doesn’t have any rules. – The final major misconception that I believe is out there about the NAIA is that there are no rules or governing body. This is simply not true. Although the NAIA regulations are not as extensive as the NCAA regulations, there are definite guidelines in place. One of the benefits I have as an NAIA coach is that in recruiting I am able to call, text, or email high school recruits of any grade level any time, any place, and anywhere. Recently the NCAA proposed major changes to their recruiting regulations including unlimited phone calls, email, texting and printing of athletic information. If enacted, these changes would bring the NCAA more in line with the NAIA recruiting standards.
I am not allowed to contact a student who is currently enrolled and competing at a four-year institution. We also have some rules about contacting junior college athletes before their sophomore year. In the past two years, the NAIA has made some great progress in its evaluation of academic eligibility. Previously, academic eligibility was determined by each individual institution, making the process highly subjective.
To create consistency between all member schools, the NAIA Eligibility Center was created, which is similar to the NCAA Clearinghouse. It determines eligibility for all first-year freshmen and transfer students, making sure those students meet certain requirements in order to compete. First-time freshmen who want to compete in the NAIA must meet two of the three following criteria: they must be in the top half of their graduating class, have a minimum G.P.A. of 2.0, or score at least an 18 on the ACT. For more information on the eligibility center including cost and questions to frequently asked questions you can point your browser to www.playnaia.org.
Over my last two years at Hannibal LaGrange University, I’ve come across a lot of athletes who might have missed out on an opportunity to run at the collegiate level by not considering an NAIA institution. So take a moment and check out the NAIA, you just might find a place where you can earn a scholarship, compete at a high level, and get a quality education.