Alabama Football Coaches Association Partners With Eccker Sports to Provide NIL Educational Services to High School Coaches Throughout The State

AUSTIN, TX (May 9, 2022) – Eccker Sports, an information company for high school athletics, has announced today a partnership with the Alabama Football Coaches Association to provide educational services and resources to help high school coaches and student-athletes throughout the state navigate the challenges that Name, Image, and Likeness contracts are bringing to high school sports.

NIL, perhaps the most disruptive concept in the sports market in the last 40 years, has quickly thrown high school athletics into unfamiliar and uncomfortable territory. Joe Briggs, counsel for the NFL Players Association, recently told the Virginia House of Delegates that high school students shouldn’t sign NIL deals because of the void in education and resources available to student-athletes and their families. The ALFCA has taken a proactive step to help solve the problem.

“The ALFCA is proud to partner with Eccker Sports to help coaches have a trustworthy source of information to navigate the new world that NIL presents,” ALFCA executive Director Jack Wood said. “NIL is ever changing and I know Eccker Sports will have the latest information that effects our game.”

The fragmentation in high school sports across the country adds layers of complexity to an already challenging NIL environment. For example, there are currently nine states that have bylaws permitting athletes to profit off their name, image, and likeness, 17 states are considering adopting new bylaws, while 25 states prohibit it altogether. Add in all the different school bylaws for high school and college eligibility and you have a situation prone for mistakes.

“It’s important for coaches in all sports to have the appropriate knowledge and information on such a dynamic subject so that they can lead the conversations with the student-athletes and their families,” Eccker Sports co-founder and CCO Tim Prukop said. “Even though a state’s current laws may prohibit high school student-athletes from benefiting from NIL deals, the issue isn’t going away. Kids will always need guidance and this partnership ensures that high school coaches, administrators and families in Alabama are fully equipped with all the resources they need to help educate and develop the most successful NIL strategies for their student-athletes.”

Each school can register at www.ecckersports.com for an annual license that provides access to all of its administrators and coaches from every sport. The comprehensive service starts with a video curriculum of six module courses online that will educate users on the history of NIL, key terms and concepts, and best practices.

Additionally, the Eccker Sports resource hub has the most detailed library of NIL information for the high school market, including articles, state laws, abstracts, summaries, bylaws, interpretations, as well as college and universities policies and procedures. Coach Assist offers high school coaches NIL presentation templates, one pagers and other tools to help them educate their communities. Finally, the company is building a network of legal, financial and tax experts to help families in all states build and execute an effective NIL strategy.

About ALFCA

The Alabama Football Coaches Association (ALFCA) was established in 2005 in order to establish a voice for the Coaches of the great state of Alabama.

About Eccker Sports

Eccker Sports is an information platform serving student-athletes, coaches, parents, and administrators navigating the disruption of NIL issues and opportunities coming to high school sports. They bring 60-plus years of experience mainstreaming new innovations in sports to help high schools guide, inform and protect their student-athletes on their NIL journeys. Their goal is to help schools create successful programs for their students rather than to represent any individual student in the NIL marketplace.

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