Maintaining a standard of excellence requires teamwork, whether on or off the field. Holt Lacrosse aims to serve a constantly growing athletic community, having launched in 2018 in an effort to be active not just in the game, but also in the lives of every student athlete who picks up a stick. Hopefully, some of you have been following our blog as we post informative articles and tackle discussions of topical interest to parents, coaches, and players. This week we are diving into a legal and regulatory discussion. It is fairly short but is important for those of you whose kids are reaching that level where they may be subject to limitations based on concerning language in a contract for either sports or a job. If you want to play at the collegiate level, it is incredibly important to have a base knowledge of the NCAA regulations and restrictions. That is not the discussion today. Instead, we’re looking at the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act and the extent to which that could potentially affect student athletes in their extracurricular time. To be clear, we’re not lawyers. There is a possibility we misinterpret or misunderstand some of what we are sharing, and we highly recommend that you read too, or even reference the full text of the Act. We’re all growing together in an effort to provide opportunities for the future generation of athletes, and if this means doing the homework ourselves on how it impacts our kids, then so be it. According to https://em-fusion-dc.org/getting-to-know-the-massachusetts-noncompetition-agreement-act/. While the following paragraph is verbatim from the Act, it provides valuable insight that players, parents, coaches, and other members of the community should understand: The Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act (the “Act”) becomes effective on October 1, 2018. The Act prohibits employers from entering into noncompetition agreements with employees who (a) are covered by a collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) if the CBA clearly and explicitly provides for the waiver of the employee’s rights under the Act, or (b) are age 18 or younger. The Act also prohibits employers from entering into noncompetition agreements with employees who are exempt from overtime under Section 13(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) unless the employee is earning at least 2,725 times the Massachusetts minimum hourly wage in effect at the time the nondisclosure agreement is executed. (This is approximately $104,000 in 2018.) In general, this sounds great. However, the context of the Act is particularly concerning in the athletic space. If you are a high school student who has been offered an opportunity to join a travel team, division, or other group that will serve as your training wheels to college or professional play, you probably have to sign an agreement with your club team. Further, if you were to be sponsored by a lacrosse brand as you continue to develop your own personal brand, you would have to sign a noncompete or similar document. Now these agreements can no longer restrict you if you are under 18 years old, but, at least in Massachusetts, it is time for a change in that type of legal framework in order to support the future of the game and the ever-growing community around it. Much like the noncompete clauses of employment agreements and contracts, it is the details of agreements that matter. It is not enough to say that you will be able to play for other teams once you are finished with a particular contract without thinking quite a bit about it. It remains to be seen as to how the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act will shake out, and it is important to remember that each state will be different with how they choose to define what is covered under the definition of a “noncompetition agreement.” Further, the risk in the change regarding some of the language in the Act has been transferred to the employer, meaning that employers in Massachusetts will need to re-think their agreement strategies. So how does this leave the student athlete? It leaves you in the same position that you’ve always been in. Make sure you are ready to sign and execute any agreements you have going forward, as that is all a part of the game (and the “business of the game” in many instances). But you can also walk away from anything that does not suit you as an individual in terms of your personal brand and your brand’s progression. You’ve got to keep your head up, and your business savvy intact. Time to hit the books and get your homework done.

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