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Today in “Why the NCAA is the worst organization ever”, the NCAA is going Texas A&M cross country runner Ryan Trahan for owning his own business.
Trahan, a 17-year-old freshman and entrepreneur, owns his own water bottle company and uses his YouTube channel to promote his endeavors. But once the NCAA got a whiff, they brought down the hammer.
The Eagle Lake, Texas, said he has been told by the NCAA to refrain from social media references to either his company, Neptune Bottle, or his collegiate athletic pursuits.
““I can… be a runner that does not own a company, I can make no references to my company but I can post running videos and let people know that I go to Texas A&M and I’m on the cross-country and track team. But I can have no reference… to my company.
The other option is I can own the company, I can let people know I own the company, I can promote it all I want, but I can’t let anyone know that I run cross country and track for Texas A&M,” Trahan said.
Texas A&M is currently looking at exploring options to retain the eligibility of an athlete who promotes his company on his YouTube channel. The A&M athletic department is working with the NCAA regarding the status of freshman Ryan Trahan, a cross country and track and field athlete who owns a water bottle company and a YouTube account of more than 14,000 subscribers.
The NCAA responded to the video on Twitter and said the organization hasn’t received a waiver from Texas A&M and is working with the university on the issue. Trahan, a freshman from Eagle Lake, ran unattached in A&M’s first cross country meet this season and ran with A&M’s team in its second meet at Georgia. His status for this weekend’s home meet is in question, according to a team spokesperson.
As a 17-year-old, Trahan and a friend co-founded Neptune Bottle in September 2016. According to the company’s website, Neptune’s main purpose is to reduce the amount of plastic bottles. The company donates a portion of its proceeds to the Plastic Oceans Foundation, according to the site.
This comes after University of Central Florida kicker Donald De La Haye was ruled ineligible for receiving advertising money generated from his YouTube channel. The NCAA granted UCF and De La Haye a waiver request that is similar to the one Trahan is currently requesting.
