2017 ATHLETE REPRESENTATIVE EXAM MATERIALS 19046_2017_Athlete_Rep_Exam_Materials_Cover_8_5x11_Final.indd 1 8/4/17 10:15 AM TABLE OF CONTENTS Topic Booklet Divider ATHLETE – AGENT RELATIONSHIP……………………………………….………………………………………….……...1 USATF & IAAF OVERVIEW………………………………………………….………………………………………….……....2 2017 USATF Governing Regulation 25………………………….…………………………………….……...……2A ELITE ATHLETE SUPPORT PROGRAMS……………………………….…………………………………….……....……...3 COMPETITION PARTICIPATION AND COMPENSATION…………….…………………………………….……......…….4 ANTI-DOPING……………………………………………………………….……………………………………...…......……...5 2017 USATF Governing Regulation 20……………………….……………………………………………...…….5A IAAF Anti-Doping Rules .……………………………………….……………………………………………...…….5B USADA Whereabouts Policy………………………………….……………………………………………….…….5C Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing...……………………………………………….……..5D USADA Pocket Guide………….............……………………………………………….………….………….…….5E USADA Policy for Therapeutic Use Exemptions ………………………………….…………………….….…….5F IAAF Therapeutic Use Exemptions…………………………………………………………………………...…….5G 2018 WADA Prohibited List…………………………………………………………………………………....…….5H COMMUNICATION AND PUBLIC OUTREACH……………………………………………………………….……….……...6 ATHLETE – AGENT RELATIONSHIP 1 I. ATHLETE/AGENT RELATIONSHIP (general) A. What is the relationship between athlete and agent? 1. It is contractual. 2. The athlete is hiring the agent to work for him or her. a. It is important to remember that at all times, the agent works for the athlete. 3. It is fiduciary a. Agent has duty to discover and disclose material information that is reasonably obtained, unless the information is so clearly obvious and apparent to the athlete that, as a matter of law, the sports agent would not be negligent in failing to disclose it B. What should the agent do for the athlete? 1. Generally, the agent is responsible for: a. Negotiating for athlete’s entry into open competitions; b. Negotiating endorsements, speaking engagements, and commercials, when appropriate; i. This would include agent’s ability to determine the market value of the athlete, within the sport, if quantifiable. c. Making travel arrangements for competitions. d. registering athlete for National competition(s), when applicable; e. Discussing personal conduct and how it may affect athlete’s career; f. Advising athlete on importance of post-career financial security and jobs after athletics; g. Informing athlete of the need to file tax returns and pay taxes; h. Counseling athlete on the need to have financial advisors who specialize in financial investments; i. Counseling athlete on the need for other potential services (e.g. PR/crisis management, media marketing (if applicable), etc) j. Advising athlete on the protocols of WADA, USADA, IAAF and USATF; k. Providing basic financial needs information to athlete (Checking, savings, credit card, etc.); 2. The agent should act as the confidante to the athlete. a. It is imperative that the athlete be able to communicate with the agent. b. If the athlete does not tell the agent his or her opinion or what’s bothering him or her, then it will be difficult or impossible to address or resolve the issue. 3. The agent should be knowledgeable regarding the athletic calendar of events. 4. The agent should assist, together with the athletic coach, club and National Federation, in planning, arranging and negotiating the athlete’s competition schedule. 5. The agent should comply with IAAF Rules and the rules of the Federation. 6. The agent should help ensure that the athlete complies with applicable Federation and IAAF Rules on eligibility. 7. The agent should act only with the athlete's express authorization and keep the athlete fully informed of all dealings or arrangements made on the athlete’s behalf. 8. The agent should represent the athlete in a manner that does not bring the sport or the athlete into disrepute. 9. The agent should avoid conflicts of interest, whether or not disclosed. 10. The agent should take all reasonable steps to collect, or arrange for the collection of, all fees negotiated by the agent on behalf of the athlete. 11. The agent should pay any and all sums due under the agreement in a timely fashion. Note: The services listed above would apply to full service agents or management companies. Some agents only handle competitions for their athletes. II. AGENT’S FIDUCIARY DUTY TO ATHLETE A. What is the agent’s fiduciary duty to the athlete and what activities does it cover? 1. The definition of the term “fiduciary” comes from Roman Law and means “a person holding the character of a trustee.” “It’s a person having a duty, created by his undertaking, to act primarily for another’s benefit.” 2. More to our needs, a fiduciary is a person who manages a person’s career, and who must exercise a standard of care in such management imposed by law and contract. 3. For the agent/athlete relationship that means: a. Mutual transparency between athlete and agent. b. Furnishing of all pertinent information. c. Provide pertinent advice to enable the athlete to control his or her career. d. Preserving the rights of the athlete. e. Negotiating on behalf of the athlete to obtain the best results financially and publicly for the athlete. f. Providing the athlete with financial reports that detail the amount of money that the athlete has earned; the amount of money that the athlete has paid to the agent; the amount that the agent is owed; a description of the services and any recoupable expenses for which the agent is to be compensated. III. COMPENSATION STRUCTURE/MAXIMUM RATES: A. What activities should an agent be compensated for? 1. Contracts negotiated. 2. Select competitions. Select competitions are competitions which have prize money, such as Permit, Area, Regional, World Challenge, Diamond League, National Championships and World Championships and or any other competition that awards prize money to athletes. 3. Commercials. 4. Appearances, speaking engagements. 5. “In Kind” endorsements (where athletes receive goods). B. What activities should an agent NOT be compensated for? 1. Grants from USOC, USATF. 2. Olympic Job Opportunity Program (OJOB). 3. Scholarships. 4. Private Funding (money given by local communities of the athlete to help him in his training and professional dreams) where agent is not involved. C. How is an agent’s compensation determined? 1. It is negotiated between the athlete (by attorney) and the agent. 2. There should be a minimum and maximum rate. 3. Current standard in the industry is 15% on athletic events. a. On endorsement contracts the standard rate is 15-20% for the life (including original term and any renewal terms) of the contract. 4. Agents who only handle their athlete’s competitions may be compensated differently based on the limited services that the agent is providing. D. Expenses 1. Agent is typically NOT reimbursed for general overhead expenses such as: a. Simple Mailings. b. Telephone. c. Agent Travel / Hotel. i. Expenses may be negotiated between parties. 2. Agent typically IS reimbursed for expenses such as: a. Specifically requested travel. b. Athlete Fees (entry fees and protest fees). c. Advances to athletes for athlete travel (airline travel, Airline change fees, hotel and food charges). d. Advanced medical costs (message, physios, chiropractic services). e. Wire transfer fees. f. Any special mailings such as Parcel Post, Fedex, express mail, DHL and UPS are mailings that can and should be reimbursed. E. Additional Services 1. Agents may be asked to assist with issues relating to immigration, securing visas for the athletes, etc. If the agent is not particularly knowledgeable in this area he/she should seek counsel from someone who is. 2. Legal Services. a. If agent is a licensed attorney, the agent may charge for additional legal services at his or her hourly rate or at an agreed rate. i. All filing fees and expenses incurred for the issues are the responsibility of the athlete. IV. AUTHORIZATION/REGISTRATION A. Agent Authorization with National Federations. 1. Prior to an agent entering into a contract to represent an athlete, the agent in almost all sports must be approved by the sports federation of the athlete: a. Agent must complete an application form for the respective sports organization he or she wishes to be an agent in and pay the requested application fees; b. After completing the application form, the respective organization has a background check done on the agent; c. The agent is usually required to attend a seminar for the respective organization and study and sit for an exam; d. If the Federation requires the agent to complete additional training, those Federation requirements must be met. (For example, USATF requires SafeSport Training in addition to a background check); d. Upon passing the exam, the agent then needs to have bonds and or insurance in place to protect the athlete in case of negligence on the part of the agent. B. Agent Registration with State Governing Bodies. 1. After you have passed the exam and been certified by the respective organization, agent must then understand that he or she will have to register as an agent in any state in which he or she wishes to do business; 2. Most of the states have a requirement to that an agent wishing to do business and recruit and sign athletes from the state must be registered; 3. There is an application and usually a fee as well as additional requirements to prove insurance or bonding of yourself with the states; 4. There are states which will accept your registration from one state so