I have some of the same misgivings about the Instagram content creators. Ultimately they are profiting by using the kids as the product. I particularly don't like the critical posts of kids - for example there was one a while back questioning a kid’s age, and the fact that the is barely, if any, moderation of the comments on their posts.

However there is some value in it for the truly elite kids, particularly those on the div 1 college pathway. I know of some instances of college coaches and scouts (and agents) contacting kids because they saw these Instagram posts. Some of them have views in the 100s of thousands.

Also in the brave new NIL world, part of the NIL negotiation is judging value by how many social media follower the kids have, which is undoubtedly grown by being featured on these Insta pages.

International players are unable to sign NIL deals within the USA due to their visa class. This may change at some point.

International players are signing NIL deals now. Alex Condon has signed deals with Fair Game Australia, Clontarf Foundation, Koya Aboriginal Corporation and the Florida Gators official NIL partner Florida Victorious. Tyrese Proctor has signed NIL deals with Podium and Fan Arch.

International players either get paid for NIL through international companies above, or they sign with US companies and the money magically appears in the Australian bank accounts, wink wink, nudge, nudge.

Agree there are way too many coaches using athletes to push their own agendas while providing nothing to the players.

Think an easy way to spot when someone is "using" the players or just generally up themselves is if they dont have any success stories of actually improving athletes, if the posts are of the "clickbait" variety making outrageous statements to generate interest (which can put athletes in the firing line) or just lots of sharp cuts showing not much or coaches that refer to athletes as "my players," claiming all of their success at their own.

Bonus points if the coach pretends to "move in silence" but is continously posting everyday ;")

However, if the parents have given permission to post (rare) and the messaging is positive I dont think theres an issue with it in todays day and age.

In SA we wish we had the amount of interest there is in Melbourne but there are trade offs

Alex is clearly getting funding from Florida NIL cooperative which would have been signed and sealed before he entered the USA, that money isnt because of his social media following. He had almost no instagram presence before going to Florida. The other 3 non-profit charities in Australia are likely listed because he did some appearances for them.

Tyrese likely has an American Passport by now, so he would be earning big dollars already.

Many if those NIL collectives are being taken inhouse as such by the Universities since they are now allowed to pay athletes. So this could hurt and not help international players getting paid, very much a moving landscape.

X player could just be the next big star etc. Those clips don't really do much for the player.

Most of the "skills" coaches putting out insta clips, just highlight how poor their coaching and communication skills really are. Some are almost comedy gold, they talk for 20 seconds and then I wonder what the actual F they just said. The ability to clearly and concisely, make a point or a skill correction is totally non-existant.

OMG this post is a breath of fresh air. The number of accounts of players promoting themselves or being promoted by others that is so far move from the reality blows my mind. I cannot recall the number of times I've seen a player online and made a decision to watch them on the basis of them being incredible only to be hugely disappointed by what I witnessed in person.

The only problem though is those players who go about their business quietly I get overlooked for those who are taking the time in the effort to promote the smallest of success and give the impression that it’s magnified across all aspects of their game.

In my view it is time for Basketball Victoria to step up to control the media landscape for VJBL and other junior competitions they run. They have a media policy but there does not appear to be any regulation - happy to be corrected but I don't see it.

Agree. Accreditation is key.

What happened to the VJBL policy that required permission from both teams to film? How is it that someone can film under 18 children and post it on their own accounts to benefit, surely this is not legal practise?

Hooping I agree with your interpretation of the NIL rules for international student athletes, I'm saying the rules are being circumvented based on what I have heard from players and agents.

Am I right to assume that BV has given these content creators media accreditation? Maybe associations should ban these people from VJBL games - I reckon most coaches would love to see them banned from filming junior games. Kids more worried about highlight reels than helping their team get the W.

I would say that it's more likely to be coming from the parents for the ages we’re worried about.