GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The name, image and likeness conversation went back and forth on Tuesday at the Florida High School Athletic Association office with the result a foregone conclusion.
In the midst of that, FHSAA board member Trevor Berryhill brought up the case of what NIL in a perfect world would look like. The athlete who brought that first contract to the FHSAA — Bartram Trail star and reigning All-News4JAX player of the year, Ryann Frechette.
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She gave the FHSAA a glimpse of what an NIL deal in the current environment should look like, all the way back in December 2022.
Frechette, a three-time state champion, graduated from Bartram last month and has signed with the University of Florida. That means she won’t be able to realize any of the NIL rewards from her high school years.
But Frechette did help lay a foundation and put a name and a face with an NIL contract on the FHSAA’s desk nearly two years ago. Even though her case wasn’t successful, Frechette was the first athlete in Florida to take her NIL case to the association. She said on Tuesday that she was thrilled other athletes who are still in high school will finally be able to benefit.
“I’m just so happy and honored that I helped, I was a part of it,” Frechette said. “And I just think I’m going to look back and be super proud of myself for being able to go to the board and appeal it and having that opportunity and them hearing me out for what I had to say.”
Berryhill brought Frechette’s case up on Tuesday morning in front of the board as a blueprint for how an NIL deal should work.
“I referenced a situation we had last year with a girl who had a proposed deal. And I know she was a Jacksonville girl,” Berryhill said. “And I thought that was exactly what we want to be able to do. I didn’t think there was anything inappropriate [in it]. There was a contract with very clear expectations on what they were in contract for. And I refer to it at that point of what’s the difference between working in McDonald’s or that right there to me just, it was a job.”
Frechette, the most decorated girls lacrosse player in area history, was approached in August 2022 about a potential deal with STX, a sports equipment company. In that deal, Frechette and her parents, Burt and Shelly, went through the proper channels to try and get that contract approved. Frechette said she knew it was a long shot because NIL was still in its early stages at the high school level and still blocked due to amateurism rules in Florida. The family was denied initially by the sectional appeals in early December 2022, and then again in February 2023.
“It was tough, but I was working with what I had,” Frechette said. “And like I said, I really just wanted to bring it into the light. I probably kind of knew they were going to say no, because it wasn’t allowed. But I hoped that for future athletes, I could give them a chance for that to be possible. And that’s what happened. So, I’m just really happy with that.”
Berryhill said Frechette’s contract was buttoned up and spelled out everything that was expected, agreed to and lined up between the parties.
Will future NIL deals be as clean as that first one? Berryhill said to expect Tuesday’s vote to be the first step in what will certainly be a learning process about NIL.
“We’ve been chewing on it all year long and really going back to last year’s board,” he said. “And so it’s not … all the stuffs not set in stone, but this gets the ball rolling.”