Over the last couple of days, the Ryan Trahan story of his dilema with the NCAA about his collegiate eligibility and his Neptune water bottle business have made quite the waves in the media. Trahan's business had entered an area that compromised his eligibility and amateurism.
The NCAA, who governs the eligibility and amateur status of all collegiate athletes declared Trahan ineligible.
Trahan who relies on social media to promote his company and chronicle his life as a student-athlete for Texas A&M University was given two options to regain his eligibility.
NCAA's Proposal To Regain Eligibility
Option one: Trahan could run and have social media post pertaining to him being an athlete, but he could not post anything pertaining to his company on social media.
Option two: Trahan could own and run his company and still run for Texas A&M, but he could not post or blog any running related videos about him being a Texas A&M track and field and cross country athlete.
The Decision
Trahan decided to go with option two, "I'm not going to be posting about running anymore on this channel. I'm going to be posting on my company, Neptune Bottle -- I'm just going to be posting non-running videos on this channel. I'm going to figure it out, I'm not exactly sure what kind of content I'm going to post."
"I chose to use my personal social media to promote my company and not promote my running.
Trahans Thoughts And Feelings
So, the questions is, after all of this, how does Trahan feel about the whole ordeal? "I'm not too upset with the compromise that the ruling is leading to. You know, I do have to split up my personality and try to create two aliases, obviously, that's not ideal."
Trahan, who is an eloquent young man and has plenty of personality, heavily relies on that personality to promote his company. "If I had it my way, I would just be able to be myself and own a company, promote my company, and live my life." I'm limited to what I can say and I don't really like it, but that's how it's going to be for a little while.
The support has been unreal -- This situation has really shown me how strong the running community is and how strong the social media community is."
Is It Fair?
Bottom line, the NCAA has worked with Trahan and Texas A&M University throughout the ordeal. While he can not co-mingle Neptune Bottle with his running and Texas A&M, but he is afforded the opportunity to figure out how to do them both.
He can promote Neptune Bottle and with a wink and a smile, "I will still be posting running content."
Texas A&M Frosh Ryan Trahan At Odds With NCAA Over Business, Popular YouTube Page
