Authentically Anastasia – California Golden Bears Athletics

Anastasia Snodgrass capitalizes on NIL opportunities as a freshman.

Almost as quickly as she can run a 6,000-meter loop, California cross country freshman Anastasia Snodgrass ran full steam ahead into the realm of name, image and likeness (NIL) opportunities for collegiate student-athletes. Before the San Juan Capistrano native even stepped foot in Berkeley, Snodgrass seized the chance to capitalize off of her newfound status as a Division 1 NCAA student-athlete at Cal.

“The moment I graduated high school, I began reaching out to companies whose products I use to tell them I was very interested in working with them,” Snodgrass said.

Though Snodgrass has never experienced a world in which she could not reap the benefits of her NIL, this idea is still fairly new since the NCAA set forth new rules that allow student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness fame on July 1, 2021. These new guidelines paved the way for collegiate student-athletes to make money for their participation in activities such as commercial endorsements, special appearances, social media posting, hosting instructional camps and classes, among other things.

“Over the last two years, there have been hundreds of Cal student-athletes who have participated in NIL activities,” Associate Athletics Director of Compliance & Student Services Justin DiTolla said. “At Cal, our goal has been to provide a set of resources for our student-athletes to build their brands and take advantage of NIL opportunities.”

Cal Athletics launched the GOLDEN Program as one such resource for student-athletes, and partnered with the Haas School of Business and Berkeley Law to offer educational sessions, brand building workshops, NIL clinics, and a course entirely devoted to building personal brand.

“These resources have assisted our student-athletes in developing their brands so they can take full advantage of their NIL during their time at Cal and beyond,” DiTolla said.

While the opportunities seem endless for student-athletes to represent a myriad of clothing, food technology brands and more, Snodgrass prides herself on the careful consideration she takes when agreeing to partner with a company. She exclusively collaborates with companies whose products she is a genuine customer of and possesses values with which she aligns….