YES, if your athlete is considering playing at the DI or DII level of college athletics.  If your athlete is only focused on D-III athletics, no need to register.

The NCAA and high schools recommend registering during the junior year. Even if DI or DII athletics are just possibilities, still register. There is no downside.

Here are some helpful steps for the athlete during the registration process:

1)   Go to the NCAA website (http://www.ncaa.org/) and click on the “register” option at the top right of the site.

2)   Follow the instructions.

3)   At the end, you will be assigned an official NCAA Registration number.

4)   Go to the guidance department at your high school and let the person assigned to the task of NCAA coordination know you have registered with the NCAA and have an official NCAA number. The guidance rep will be responsible for sending official transcripts to the NCAA for compliance.

5)   You will need to complete a transcript release form to allow the guidance department to send the official transcripts. If you are under 18 years of age, you will need to have a parent or guardian also sign the transcript release form. Even though transcripts are sent to the NCAA at the end of junior and senior years, you only need to sign this release once.

The NCAA website is full of great information. If you can’t find what you are looking for, don’t hesitate to phone one of the many qualified reps (under the contact tab). Ahhh, so great to check another thing off the list.