The Georgia High School Association announced on Tuesday that they are expected to restructure the current rules for name, image and likeness deals in high school sports around the state.
Name, Image, and Likeness has been a new installment to the lives of student-athletes in the GHSA since the concept was approved by the board of trustees in October of 2023 by a vote of 66-9.
The amendments the board of trustees is aiming to install include banning collectives in high school sports to prevent fans, alumni, and boosters from directly paying players to play for their school.
After the state of Georgia became the 30th state in the country to allow its players to use NIL to their advantage, GHSA Executive Director, Dr. Robin Hines, alerted schools a part of the association that students who do make money off of collectives would be ineligible for multiple recruiting violations.
The restructuring of the NIL amendment of the GHSA does not include getting rid of NIL for high school sports as a whole, but re-establishing guidelines for players and team personnel to fully understand. The amendment still allows students to promote products or businesses, but are forbidden from earning money from any booster programs.
In a report released in January of 2024 by Travis Jaudon of Connect Savannah, 44-out-of-429,714 (.01%) student athletes in the GHSA have signed NIL deals since the idea was implemented in October of last year. While the numbers aren’t staggering, the GHSA’s presumptive decision will have the hope of eliminating any future illegal recruiting violations within its member schools.
The GHSA board of trustees will meet Thursday to make a final decision on the proposed amendment to eradicate illegal recruiting and unethical NIL practices from high school sports in Georgia completely.
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