A Parent's Guide to Protecting Your Athlete

Parents and grandparents are often the only people around a young athlete who want nothing from them. That makes you the most valuable person in the room once money shows up. It also puts you in a hard spot: new people will court you to get to your child, relatives will come to you with requests, and you may be asked to run things you have never run before. This guide is about protecting your athlete and your relationship with them at the same time.

Your role changes as they grow

• Under 18: you sign contracts alongside them, you open accounts for them, and you are legally responsible for a lot. Be hands-on.
• 18 to early 20s: they sign their own contracts and control their own accounts. You move from decision-maker to trusted advisor. That shift is healthy, even when it is hard.
• Pro years: your best role is usually the person who asks good questions and makes sure the professionals are checking each other, not the person managing everything.

Do not become the manager without a plan

Many families slide into a parent managing the money, the schedule, and the deals. Sometimes it works. Often it strains the relationship, because the parent is now also the boss, the banker, and the person saying no. If you take on a formal role, do it on purpose: put it in writing, define your duties, set your pay like a real job, and have an independent CPA review the books every year. That protects you as much as your child. If something goes wrong, records are what keep a family misunderstanding from becoming a family fight.

Questions to ask any agent

1. 1
   Are you certified?

   Confirm on the players association website for pros, or the state registration list for NIL agents where required.

2. 2
   What exactly is your fee, for each kind of deal?

   Playing contract, endorsements, appearances. Get it in writing.

3. 3
   Who else will work on my child's account?

   Big agencies often hand younger clients to junior staff.

4. 4
   How many clients do you have at this level and position?

   Ask to speak with two current clients and their parents.

5. 5
   Do you get paid by anyone you refer us to?

   Advisors, insurance agents, trainers, lenders. Any referral fee is a conflict you need to know about.

6. 6
   Will you ever handle my child's money?

   The right answer is no. Payments should go straight to the athlete.

7. 7
   What are you paying up front, and how do we repay it?

   Training, housing, and marketing costs before the draft are often recovered later.

8. 8
   How do we end the agreement?

   Ask about notice periods and what happens to fees on deals already signed.

How to read a contract (NIL or endorsement)

• Who is paying, how much, and when. Look for exact dates and what triggers each payment.
• What your child must do. Number of posts, appearances, hours, approval rights over content.
• Term and renewal. How long it lasts and whether it renews automatically.
• Exclusivity. Does it block other deals in a category, like all shoes or all drinks?
• Rights to name and image. How long the company can use photos and video, and whether it lasts 'in perpetuity.' Avoid forever.
• Termination and morals clauses. What lets them cancel, and whether your child must pay anything back.
• Eligibility. Does anything conflict with school, state association, or CSC rules?
• If anything is unclear, pay a lawyer to review it. A few hundred dollars is cheap compared with a bad multi-year deal.

Custodial accounts: what happens at 18 or 21

Money a minor earns belongs to the minor. A custodial account under the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) lets a parent manage it for the child's benefit. But the gift is permanent, and control passes to the child at the age set by state law. That is 21 in most states and 18 in some. A few states let the person setting up the account choose a later age, up to 25 in some states. When that birthday comes, the money is theirs to use however they choose.

Someone has to be the 'no'

Young athletes get pressured by friends, relatives, and strangers. It is often easier for them to say, 'My mom handles that,' or 'Talk to my business manager,' than to say no to someone they grew up with. Offer to be that buffer. Take the call, hear the pitch, and pass nothing along until it is checked. You are not blocking opportunities. You are filtering them.

• Nobody gets money from your athlete on the spot, ever.
• Anyone pitching an investment gets checked on FINRA BrokerCheck and the SEC's adviser site first.
• Big purchases wait 30 days.
• Family requests go through the giving budget, not through guilt.