What is a booster?

A “booster” (Representative of the institution’s Athletics interest) is an individual or business that is known (or should have been known) by the University of Georgia Athletic Association to have participated in any of the following:

  • Participated in or been a member of an organization promoting Georgia Athletics.
  • Contributed financially to the UGA Athletic Association, The Georgia Bulldog Club, individual athletic programs or any other UGA Athletics or sport-specific booster organization.
  • Assisted in the recruitment of prospects.
  • Provided NCAA permissible benefits to enrolled student-athletes or their families.
  • Promoted the UGA Athletic Association in other ways.

Once identified as a booster, an individual or business retains that identity for life.

Your support and commitment to UGAAA is truly appreciated. As a UGAAA supporter, you are responsible for following NCAA rules specific to boosters. Please review the below information regarding your interaction with prospective, current and former student-athletes.

Extra Benefit

The term “extra benefit” refers to any special arrangement by an institutional employee or representative of the institution’s athletics interests (booster) to provide the student-athlete or his or her relatives or friends with a benefit not expressly authorized by NCAA legislation.

Receipt of a benefit (including otherwise prohibited extra benefits per Bylaw 16.11.2) by student-athletes, their relatives or friends is not a violation of NCAA rules if it is demonstrated that the same benefit is generally available to the institution’s students and their relatives or friends. Therefore, a general student discount or benefit would be permissible but a discount or benefit available only to student-athletes would not be permissible.

A booster may not provide a student-athlete with professional services (for which a fee normally would be charged) without charge or at a reduced cost except as permitted elsewhere in this bylaw. Professional services provided at less than the normal rate or at no expense to a student-athlete are considered an extra benefit unless they are available on the same basis to the general student body. This would include legal counsel, resume preparation, etc.

An institutional employee or booster may not provide a student-athlete with extra benefits or services, including, but not limited to:

  • A loan of money;
  • A guarantee of bond;
  • An automobile or the use of an automobile;
  • Transportation (e.g., a ride home with a coach), except as permitted in 16.9.1-(e), even if the student-athlete reimburses the institution or the staff member for the appropriate amount of the gas or expense;
  • Signing or cosigning a note with an outside agency to arrange a loan;
  • Housing or use of housing;
  • Telephones or credit cards, including general use; or,
  • Other tangible items.

For more information click here.