The Florida High School Athletic Association is discussing a policy that would allow high school athletes to be paid for their name, image and likeness (NIL).
It’s an opportunity Lake Mary basketball star Dakara Merthie said she would be open to.
“It would benefit me because it would be like a very big eye opener for me at such a young age getting opportunities like this,” Merthie said.
30 states across the country have already approved this policy.
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Dan LaForest, a wealth advisor who is also privy to the facets of NIL, said it’s broken down into several different criteria.
He said there are two different levels of compensation. One is a brand partnership, which is when a company uses your name image and likeness for the benefit of advertising.
“If you have a star player, whether it be at the high school or college level, that provides value to that company, then that comes in the form of a branding deal,” LaForest said.
There are also collectives, which LaForest said are non-profits, not affiliated with schools, that generate revenue to give to the players as compensation.
LaForest said one of the challenges for the state of Florida is the fact that it’s an open-transfer state.
“A lot of other states don’t allow student-athletes to move between schools, so you know, could it be used as a far of recruiting, could it be used to entice students to play at one particular school versus another,” LaForest said. “I think these are all some of these things that the FHSAA are concerned about how do they regulate that.”
He also said that since NIL is a financial opportunity, it may come with tax obligations.
Regardless, he believes this could be a good opportunity for student players.
“Why not? Who’s to say anybody shouldn’t have an opportunity to make money when they have something?” LaForest said.
Merthie didn’t become skilled overnight; she practices 12 hours a week.
“Basketball is very therapeutic to me, it’s like I can get on the court and everything outside, the problems outside just go away,” Merthie said.
If she gets the opportunity to profit from her skills, she already has a partnership in mind.
“My dream brand would be Nike. I just love Nike. Like, their saying is, ‘Just do it, so just go for it,’” Merthie said.
She said she would use the money to get the gear she needs when playing on her summer sports teams and even to help her family.
Merthie knows the money isn’t the most important, though.
“I don’t want high schoolers like us to lose the vision of what we have going on for ourselves,” Merthie said.
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