PLYMOUTH, Minnesota — Just one week after the Minnesota State High School League approved a name, image and likeness policy for student athletes, a rising soccer star has officially inked an endorsement deal.
Edina High School soccer goalkeeper Bayliss Flynn became the first student in Minnesota to sign an NIL deal on Wednesday with TruStone Financial.
In addition to playing on her school and club teams, Flynn is the youngest player on Minnesota Aurora FC, the state's USL W league team, at just 17 years old. TruStone Financial is one of the founding sponsors of Minnesota Aurora.
"It definitely makes me very proud and very happy that a girl is the first one to do it," she said.
Through her partnership with TrueStone, Flynn will help represent financial literacy within the community and the Minnesota Aurora credit and debit cards offered by the company.
And that's not everything on Flynn's plate. In January she announced her commitment to play Division 1 soccer at the University of Montana, and when she's not in goal herself, Flynn is a goalkeeper trainer for young girls in the community.
" I love seeing them improve and get better," she said. "I love seeing their passion for the sport already."
Minnesota's high school NIL policy, which was just approved June 7, allows high school student athletes to maintain their amateur status while earning money from sponsorship and endorsement deals.
"It's insane to me, especially that the Minnesota State High School League passed it to let it go through, and I really want to be representative of our local community," Flynn said of her partnership.
Similar to the NCAA's policy around NIL deals, there are specific regulations student-athletes must follow to comply with the new policy, including:
- Compensation not being contingent on specific athletic performance or achievement
- Compensation not being provided as a recruitment tool or to remain enrolled at a particular school
- NIL activities can't interfere with a student-athlete's academic obligations, among other things
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