WAG How will this affect amateur status??

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FlippinLilysMom

Proud Parent
So I stumbled across this and was wondering if anyone knows if this will affect her amateur status? We talked to our coach about doing something similar to this to help pay for Lily's training and travel and were told absolutely not, that raising funds that would in any way be used towards her gymnastics could affect her amateur status and any potential future scholarship offers. Just curious as to your thoughts..

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I’m pretty sure that it doesn’t, but everyone knows that the NCAA is fickle. I imagine that elite training is just absolutely ridiculously overpriced considering how much it costs for a normal kid to compete, so I’m less surprised she has one and more surprised there aren’t more gymnastics go fund me accounts.
 
It totally would affect her status for NCAA purposes. My guess is the family is hoping Morgan will be famous enough for it not to matter, or that she is smart enough to get an academic scholarship fro college. We all know training is very $$$ at the elite level, not everyone can make it work without help.
 
It totally would affect her status for NCAA purposes. My guess is the family is hoping Morgan will be famous enough for it not to matter, or that she is smart enough to get an academic scholarship fro college. We all know training is very $$$ at the elite level, not everyone can make it work without help.
Has there been further clarification past this? https://www.google.com/amp/s/blog.r...es-gives-thumbs-up-to-crowdfunding?format=amp

Seems that as long as it’s only covering expenses it’s ok? Maybe I misread?
 
I’m totally clueless. But thinking on it. She is not giving for getting so it I lean toward not a problem. If she was say being gifted things like Leo’s by a company or for mentions on say an Instagram site that would be a no n0.
 
What about Booster Clubs that help raise money to cover competition fees and tuition? Do those affect eligibility?

And all of the gymnastics Instagram Kids that are given leos and other items from sponsors. Does that affect their eligibility?
 
You can call the NCAA eligibility center and they will answer these questions. I did that last year, and was told repeatedly that they don't care how sports are paid for as long as the money is not from:
1. College Booster or Team
2. Agent
3. Money for doing gymnastics.

I brought up booster clubs (501c3) and they repeated the above. But they will talk to anyone who calls. Very nice people.
 
My understanding of booster clubs is that they can't give money directly to you. They can pay the gym for your leo/warm up and pay meet registrations for you with any money that is in your booster club account.
 
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this shouldn't affect eligibility. For track we were able to hold fundraisers to help pay for travel, etc and even get corporate donations. Johnson and Johnson sent me to Oregon for training camp and it did not affect my eligibility because I never wore items branded with their logo and they did not pay me to go. They just donated to a campaign run by my coach tohelp me afford to get there.

As long as we were not making a profit for it and were not advertising. It is like if your gym trained you for free - they technically are gifting you the cost of your training but you are not taking home a salary for being a gymnast nor are you advertising a brand for pay. GoFundMe is more like asking 100 relatives and good friends to chip in.
 
I would definitely research/call NCAA to get confirmation, but I believe what has been stated above is correct - as long as money covers training expenses (which is why athletes who are on a US national team are allowed to accept the training stipend without losing NCAA eligibility) and the athlete is not getting paid to be a gymnast it is ok. But I would definitely double check, and keep very very good records. Does it also vary sport-to-sport in NCAA? I am pretty sure while watching swimming at either the Olympics or World Championships the announcers were talking about how many US swimmers still compete for their colleges and said something to the effect of they are allowed to accept the money that they get for winning an Olympic/World medal and not lose eligibility as long as they do not sign with an agent/sponsor.
 
gofundme is considered gifts by the IRS and not taxable. As it is a gift from random donors I don't see it being a problem. Further thinking and I guess it could get sticky if an agent made a large donation and she kept that donation.
 
There is a Buckeye gymnast (Jones) that has had a GoFundMe for a while. They call it for the family (dad was seriously ill), but then advertised it as “keep Shilese in gymnastics”....so seems clear to me that those funds will not just go to medical expenses. Jones is verbal to Florida, so it doesn’t seem to have effected her amateur status
 
This doesn't affect me or my dd and I only know what I read on CB & from the link that MILgymFAM attached above. I'm obviously misinterpreting this because that last example sounds like a violation to me.

"An athlete may participate in non-sports related crowdfunding provided that there is “no relationship to nor mention of athletics”. For example, a soccer player could conduct a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to make a documentary film about pollution as long as she did not mention her status as an athlete"
 
I always thought that having something like a Go Fund Me page to pay for your kid's gymnastics expenses was at least a violation of the spirit of the law...I think it's kind of odd when people use that type of thing to fund a leisure activity, but maybe that's just me. We only signed our kids up for things we could afford and didn't make apologies when we couldn't.
 
This doesn't affect me or my dd and I only know what I read on CB & from the link that MILgymFAM attached above. I'm obviously misinterpreting this because that last example sounds like a violation to me.

"An athlete may participate in non-sports related crowdfunding provided that there is “no relationship to nor mention of athletics”. For example, a soccer player could conduct a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to make a documentary film about pollution as long as she did not mention her status as an athlete"

I am with you on this one. Clearly Morgan is using her fame in gymnastics to raise money to further her gymnastics career. Even if the money was going to something different, she is still using her name as a gymnast to gain money. I think this would violate the policy. Whether the NCAA chooses to enforce it is another questions.

As for the Olympics, I believe all sport are able to keep prize money and not lose eligibility as long as the prize money does not exceed their training expenses. They are also allowed to accept sponsorship apparel as long as it is given to the team (or a particular level within a whole team), not just a specific individual.
 

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