NCAA Eligibility Approved for Abaarso School in Somaliland
The NCAA counts 1,101 institutions as members in the US and one in Canada, Simon Fraser University (SFU) in British Columbia. The second non-American school in the NCAA is now Abaarso School in Hargeisa, Somaliland. As a result, Abaarso School will be the only NCAA member that is not from North America. This membership of and affiliation with NCAA will again put Somaliland on the global spot as the academic performance of Abaarso students, who have gotten educational scholarships from US Ivy League universities, has already made Somaliland well-known.
This eligibility is sure to open doors for many of our students who hope to participate in NCAA athletics in the United States! If you have any questions please reach out to our counselor at counselor@abaarsoschool.org
We are so excited to announce that Abaarso School has been approved for NCAA eligibility! Abaarso puts a strong focus on extracurriculars, offering a variety or sport and club options to students in the afternoons. pic.twitter.com/WYLPLIQuaN
— Abaarso School of Science & Technology (@AbaarsoSchool) August 5, 2024
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a member-led organization dedicated to the well-being and lifelong success of college athletes. NCAA schools award nearly $3.5 billion in athletics scholarships every year
The NCAA, a member-led organization, was founded in 1906 to regulate the rules of college sport and protect young athletes, and in 1910 was renamed the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
As college athletics grew, bigger schools invested more in their sports programs, while smaller-budget schools struggled to keep pace. In 1973, the Association’s membership was divided into Divisions I, II and III, with each division having legislative powers and separate championships. The NCAA’s current three-division structure was adopted to create a fair playing field for teams from similar schools and provide college athletes more opportunities to participate in national championships.
More than 500,000 college athletes across all three divisions compete for about 1,100-member schools in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and even Canada
Among the three NCAA divisions, Division I schools generally have the biggest student bodies, manage the largest athletics budgets and offer the highest number of athletics scholarships.
53 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) are included in NCAA.