NCAA night provides advice for student athletes

November 14, 2011

By Jenny Johnson

News Editor

On Nov. 14., District 214 will hold a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) information night at Forest View Educational Center for all high school students interested in continuing sports in their college career.

Maureen Harty, Associate Athletic Director for Academic Services and Compliance, will be talking to students and parents about the road to college sports.

Harty’s main focus will be, to direct students to choose colleges that they want to go to with or without playing their sport.

According to Buffalo Grove counselor Kathy Fox, who is in charge of planning this event, Harty has been speaking at the NCAA information night for District 214 for the last five years.

“She is not only a speaker and a resource, but she opens up to students and parents and lets them contact her for further advice,” Fox said.

Harty also will be talking about things parents want to hear; scholarships.
The NCAA is broken into three different divisions that Harty will talk about. Division I and III are colleges that offer scholarships for sports whereas Division II does not.

According to Fox, though scholarships can be very helpful, students should not fully base everything on just what scholarships they get. This goes back to what Harty believes in on picking the college that the student wants to attend.

“Sometimes it’s smarter not to take sport scholarships,” Fox said. “At times, you can get more money from certain colleges for doing extracurricular activities.”

Sports included in NCAA

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) governs 23 different college sports at Division I, II and III schools.