Athletics and Enrollment at K-12 Schools
Student-Athletes, Admission & NIL
My friend and fellow school partner, Trevor Waddington of Truth Tree, asked in December for 2024 marketing predictions. He then composed an informative blog with all of the answers—School Marketing Predictions for 2024 | Truth Tree.
Here was my prediction:
“I predict that elite high school student-athletes will begin exploring the possibilities around NIL (name, image, and likeness). The impact for school administrators with these particular families will be that they will first consider the financial upside of joining one independent school over another. NIL money will have a direct impact on enrollment, financial aid, and retention as its availability grows among high-school athletes.”
Since drafting this prediction in December, my home state recently passed a law allowing Virginia colleges and universities to directly compensate student-athletes through name, image, and likeness deals. I’m sure other states will look to emulate the new Virginia law soon.
Based on recent conversations, here are a few examples of the impact of NIL at independent schools.
Athletic Directors are taking courses in NIL to get up to speed on rules and regulations.
A prominent school doesn’t attempt to compete in the state championships because certain teams don’t comply with recruiting compliance rules.
Top student-athletes switched schools to take advantage of NIL opportunities.
Ninth-grade student-athlete has an NIL deal.
Special ad hoc Board committees have been created to review their school’s approach to admission and athletics.
Top college offered a Senior significant NIL money to enroll.
Changing Times
When I was appointed as a new Director of Admission and Financial Aid in 2009, I entered a school on the heels of a noteworthy Washington Post recruiting story. I was explicitly told that we were not allowed to leverage athletics as a tool to help enroll students.
I’ve spoken with several admission directors and athletic directors recently—times have certainly changed as coaches are now routinely part of the admission process and often on the admission team. My alma mater hired a new lacrosse coach and he works in the admission office with the title of Associate Director and Athletic Recruitment Coordinator. A former colleague left his role as the school’s Boys’ Athletic Director and serves as the Associate Director of Admissions and Varsity Boys’ Basketball Coach. Both schools are highly respected independent schools with competitive admission standards. These are not anomalies.
If I were an Admission Director today, I would certainly welcome coaches on my team, as I view coaches as teachers. Athletics has a key role in developing teamwork, responsibility, and resilience. Coaches in the office would also make my job easier as they can easily build relationships and connect with the current decision-makers, the students.
Recently, I was at a high-level soccer tournament in Florida and approached a woman wearing a recognizable independent school sweatshirt. I asked her what she was doing at the tournament, and besides serving as a coach for one of the ECNL teams, she was also there to introduce high-level student-athletes to her school.
With so much change at the collegiate level, I’m excited to kick off Season 2 of The Huddle discussing the relationship between enrollment management and athletics with school leaders from Sidwell Friends School (DC).
My guests will be Frankie Brown, Assistant Head of School for Enrollment Management and Financial Aid, and John Square, Athletic Director. They’ll share how Sidwell is approaching enrollment management, athletics, and NIL.
Be the first to know when the date is announced by subscribing to the LeadTeam Newsletter.
