Dear [Senator]/[Representative] (Last Name):
[Senator]/[Representative] _____________________ has recently [co]sponsored [S. ________ or H.R. _________ ], the Uniform Athlete Agent Act (UAAA). The legislation governs the relationships between student-athletes, athlete agents and academic institutions and is designed to protect student athletes and their academic institutions from unscrupulous agent conduct. The UAAA, endorsed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and its member institutions, was created by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL), a national organization that drafts uniform and model state laws, which is comprised of more than 300 lawyers, judges, state legislators and law professors appointed by their respective states. In [co]sponsoring the UAAA, [Senator]/[Representative] _____________________ stressed the need to protect uninformed student-athletes from dishonest agent conduct, "While most agents perform a valuable service for their clients, a minority of agents will take advantage of vulnerable student-athletes by using deceptive tactics such as secret payments and illusory promises to lure naive student-athletes into signing agency agreements. This legislation is vital to preserving the integrity of collegiate athletics and for the perpetuation of the student-athlete."
The NCAA endorses the passage of the UAAA in every state due to the substantial impact of unscrupulous agent conduct on both student-athletes and its member institutions. Bill Saum, NCAA director of agent, gambling and amateurism activities stressed the chilling effects of unsavory agent conduct on college athletics, "Unscrupulous agent conduct permeates collegiate athletics. Far too often, dishonest athlete agent conduct results in the loss of student-athlete eligibility, the imposition of financial penalties on the student-athlete's institution and the taint of a 'scandal' on both the institution and the intercollegiate athletic community." To help thwart damage to both student-athletes and academic institutions, the UAAA establishes uniform standards for athlete agents. It requires agents to register with a state agency and to disclose relevant business history, which allows potential clients to make an educated decision before entering a binding agency contract. The UAAA also protects both student-athletes and schools by requiring specific warnings about the potential loss of eligibility to appear in the contract and by requiring both the agent and the student-athlete to notify the affected school if an agreement is signed. In the event that an agent violates the UAAA, the act provides for criminal, civil and administrative penalties with enforcement at the state level.
Since 1982 states have enacted various laws regulating athlete agent conduct. Many of these non-UAAA laws are vague and vary considerably from state to state, however, which creates a problem with interstate enforcement. "The UAAA remedies the issue of multi-jurisdictional enforcement by establishing a uniform set of regulations. Unlike its predecessors, the UAAA does not allow an agent to circumvent a state's agent requirements through interstate contact because states that have adopted the Act have the same laws for athlete agents," said Saum.
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