Signing a national letter of intent, also know as NLI, \u00a0is an exciting time for many student-athletes. But before you sign on the dotted line make sure you are aware of what it means.<\/p>\n
Signing a National Letter of Intent is the first step for athletes solidifying their collegiate careers. But what is the NLI? What exactly do athletes and parents agree to when they sign on the dotted line? <\/span><\/p>\n The National Letter of Intent is a \u201cbinding agreement between a prospective student-athlete and an NLI member institution. A prospective student-athlete agrees to attend the institution full-time for one academic year (two semesters or three quarters). The institution agrees to provide athletics financial aid for one academic year (two semesters or three quarters)<\/span><\/p>\n The NLI is a contract that holds both the university institution and the student-athlete accountable for one academic year. <\/span><\/p>\n When a student-athlete and or a parent sign the NLI, the athlete must live out the contract. Failure to fulfill the contract will result in a wasted eligibility year. Even if the athlete stays during the athletic season the contract isn’t over, the athlete must complete the full-academic year as well.<\/span><\/p>\n Although the NLI is a binding contract, it isn\u2019t required by institutions, student-athletes or parents to sign. \u00a0Between Division I and Division II colleges or universities 650 schools participate in the NLI. However, many athletes and college coaches prefer to sign an NLI because it stops a prospective student-athletes recruiting process. Once someone has signed an NLI, a recruiting ban is in effect, and their recruiting process is over. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Once the NLI is sent athletes have seven days to sign before the document is invalid. The period for athletes to sign their NLI\u2019s vary from sport to sport. Typically,\u00a0there are two different signing sessions for every sport, an early signing period and a regular signing period. For more information on the signing dates for all\u00a0sports visit,\u00a0<\/span>nationalletter.org\/signindates.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Every athlete, attending a four-year institution on an athletic scholarship must sign an NLI for it to go into effect for the school year that’s\u00a0stated in the document. Also, student-athletes under the age of 21 must have a parent or guardian sign their NLI as well. If an athlete is over 21, they do not need a parent or guardian’s signature. <\/span><\/p>\n There are multiple ways to sign and return the NLI. However, it\u2019s best that athletes and families follow the instructions provided by the institution sending their NLI. Every school can send an NLI in an email as long as the financial aid offer is an attachment in the same email. Many people also choose to fax their NLI\u2019s to their institution as well, which is permissible provided you follow the school\u2019s instructions. It’s also smart to save a copy of the NLI for your records. <\/span><\/p>\n Athletes who fail to honor the NLI commitment will lose a year of eligibility and will have to attend their new NLI institution for one academic year before being eligible athletically. If an athlete chooses to attend a school that isn’t a part of the NLI program than the above punishment doesn\u2019t apply because they don’t follow the same set of rules.<\/span><\/p>\n Are you participating in the upcoming signing period for your sport? Or are you still waiting for your collegiate opportunity? Get in contact with one of our professional scouts<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Signing a national letter of intent, also know as NLI, \u00a0is an exciting time for many student-athletes. But before you sign on the dotted line make sure you are aware of what it means. The Basics of the National Letter of Intent Signing a National Letter of Intent is the first step for athletes solidifying … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":14907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1299],"tags":[282,482,79,792,82,886,751,861],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14608"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14608"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14909,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14608\/revisions\/14909"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What Does the NLI Mean? <\/b><\/h2>\n
When to Sign an NLI?<\/b><\/h2>\n
Who Signs an NLI? <\/b><\/h2>\n
How to Sign an NLI?<\/b><\/h2>\n
What Happens if you Fail to Honor the NLI? <\/b><\/h2>\n