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A weekly snapshot of all things High School Name, Image, & Likeness....
The Why behind it all, and next steps moving forward with NIL-Education.com!
As I reflected on 2022 over the past few days, and considered what lies ahead for Triple Threat Leadership, LLC and NIL-Education.com, my head began to spin. Needless to say the past year (and 3 for that matter), have been a whirlwind and somewhat of an unexpected ride.
When I began working at The University of North Carolina in the winter of 2019, I was thrust into a world that was preparing for this unknown thing called Name, Image, & Likeness.
Even at that level there was tremendous anxiety and questions circulating such as:
What does this mean for our department, our teams, our student-athletes?
What are we going to have to do as coaches and administrators?
How do we prepare for this?
And to be honest, it felt like no one really knew, and those that said they did seemed to be coming at it from a perspective that didn’t really help because they were so focused on the student-athletes. That isn't a bad thing necessarily, but, for most administrators / coaches / staff members there wasn't really anywhere to turn. (Other than compliance, you always turn to compliance at that level!)
As I watched the NIL phenomena pick up steam and eventually roll its way into every facet of college athletics, I started to worry about what this would look like at the high school level since most things athletically seem to have a trickle down effect.
Having spent a large portion of my career as a high school teacher, coach, and athletic director, I knew the structures in place at the interscholastic level weren't set up for AD's and school administrators to have the capacity to handle this, or have the time to truly understand what this might look like if it trickled faster than most thought. Many wouldn't get the appropriate type of education to even understand where to start, or what to consider, and unfortunately would get taken advantage of.
I also witnessed more and more "NIL focused" organizations claiming to help "educate" at the college level, but it seemed to result in less engagement or interest from the students, more confusion with coaches and administrators, and again I worried about all of this just becoming a money grab for companies in the high school space. The education part for these companies wasn't at the forefront of their missions, and let's face it, it showed in what they provided.
During my keynote at the Ohio High School Athletic Directors Conference in November of 2020, I had an AD raise his hand and ask -
“Scott, this is a lot to take in. Where can I find information specifically about High School NIL that is for High School AD’s?”
And it stopped me in my tracks.
There wasn’t anything at the time specifically to help AD's and school admins, so that night I started NIL-Education.com from my hotel room.
I honestly never intended to get into the "NIL Education" world, as it wasn't part of the plan.
But as I tell most people who ask me why I do this....
I’m passionate about serving in this space because I don't trust most people to understand what it's like to be a High School Athletic Director and not have a resource specifically built to support you.
I'm also the crazy guy who completed his doctorate in leadership and policy studies and loves analyzing state policies to try to figure out what AD's are going to be required to do in regards to NIL, and helping them formulate a game plan with resources to be as proactive as they can.
The goal with NIL-Education.com , and all of the work continuing to build Triple Threat Leadership, LLC is to provide needed support through educational resources that are built with Athletic Directors / School Admins / High Schools in mind.
High School districts will continue to be confronted with NIL in some way and most will need to build effective strategies and educational plans while learning to truly understand their respective state's policies. But, while doing this, it's paramount that they figure out ways to create programming that helps develop ALL of their students, not just their student athletes while using NIL life skills as the driver.
I'm a firm believer that NIL Education at the High School level is very different in many areas and it has to be approached in a different manner.
For example - The rules are unique to each state athletic association (there's no NCAA or governing national body), you're dealing with minors, and you have a lot of school and community stakeholders that are uneducated about NIL who have a major impact on young, impressionable kids.
Additionally - that NIL trickle down effect from college to high school athletics has moved more like a wildfire with high winds, as more than 26 states have approved new / or modified regulations to allow it. With speed like that, research suggests that by the end of 2024 the remaining 24 will move their needles in favor as well. (But who knows if that will actually occur). Schools can't just wait and see anymore.
At the end of the day, I've always felt called to help, and I'll continue to do so with that continued focus on high school administrators and their stakeholders at the forefront.
Which brings me to the purpose of the creation and introduction of Doc's Dose of NIL.... a weekly newsletter I'll publish as another piece of that support.
My hope is to provide insight, as well as outline and evaluate key areas of consideration, answer FAQ's, and provide tips to create healthy strategies for NIL educational programming at the high school level, because let's face it, many of you have the exact same questions that I saw at the college level...
What does this mean for our department, our teams, our student-athletes?
What are we going to have to do as coaches and administrators?
How do we prepare for this?
As I told an AD recently at the National Athletic Administrators conference where I presented on NIL as the Hot Button Topic Speaker, I don't ever want to build things that aren't valuable or helpful to AD's / School Administrators / HS stakeholders.
So..... Let me know what your concerns / issues / struggles / pain points are, and I'll do whatever I can to build something to assist you.
Here's even a link to do that... https://bit.ly/NIL-Survey-2022
If you've got questions, need a place to start, want to continue learning about NIL, or even want help figuring out an NIL focused educational strategic plan for your district, please feel free to reach out.
I know many of your heads are spinning with all of this "NIL stuff", and rightfully so, but I'll do my best to help equip and empower you to move forward in whatever path you choose to go.
Keep Being Awesome!
- Doc G
scott@triplethreatleadership.com | www.triplethreatleadership.com | www.nil-education.com
Dr. Scott Grant, or “Doc G” as his students call him, is former high school teacher, coach, and athletic director turned college professor in educational leadership / social media / branding, and founded Triple Threat Leadership, LLC. (www.triplethreatleadership.com) & NIL-Education (www.nil-education.com).
Need resources for Personal Branding & Social Media Education? Check out Dr. Grant's "Branding of ME" course, utilized by over 10,000 students, and integrated into hundreds of school curriculums across the country.
Learn more ---> https://www.triplethreatleadership.com/branding-of-me-course
Need help navigating Name, Image, and Likeness and preparing your program? Dr. Grant offers services to assist, and will develop specific tools / resources that fit your districts need.
Learn more ---> https://www.nil-education.com/nil-services
If you’re interested in staying up to date about all things NIL-Education, head on over to www.NIL-Education.com and subscribe, as well as follow @NIL_Education on the platforms below by a quick click!