In the world of pre-professional athletics, the letters N, I, and L have dominated the discourse in recent years.
NIL stands for “name, image and likeness.” Since 2021, college athletes have been able to sell their NIL rights to promote products and make money.
In April, the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association voted to allow high school athletes to participate in NIL deals. It joined at least 40 other states, including Illinois, Minnesota and Iowa in doing so.
Darcy Doyle is 17 years old and a three-time All American athlete in lacrosse, which she’s been playing since she was nine. Her team at the University School of Milwaukee has voted her MVP three years running, and she’s committed to play lacrosse in college even though she doesn’t graduate until next year.
Shortly after the rule change, Doyle inked an NIL deal with the Walny Legal Group, a law firm with offices in Milwaukee and Elm Grove.
She wasn’t going to sell supplements, energy drinks or shoes. Instead, she agreed to post several times on her Instagram account, encouraging young people to square away HIPAA authorizations and powers of attorney after they turn 18-years-old.
Not exactly cafeteria talk for high school students.
“I signed the deal because it’s important to have basic estate documents set up for young adults when they turn 18," she says. "Once you are 18 and you’re away from your parents, and something bad happens, they can still have a say.”
Medical emergency prompts powers of attorney for 19-year-old college student
Eido Walny is the founder and managing attorney at Walny Legal Group. He says his firm sought the deal with Doyle because he wants to get the message out about having legal documents in order when a minor turns 18.
“If you’re a young adult going to college, you have certain privacy rights with regard to your finances and your medical decisions," he explains. "Even though you might think of your parents as your hotel, your laundromat, certainly your bank ... it becomes no laughing matter when you go to college and your parents are trying to help you with some finances and can’t because you’re an adult and don’t have financial powers of attorney.”
Unfortunately, he’s seen the importance of having these documents in place in his own life. Just three months after his firm finalized the deal with Doyle, his own 19 year-old-son was involved in a crash that landed him in the intensive care unit at Froedtert Hospital.
I reached him at the hospital for this interview. Walny says he and his wife were able to make medical decisions on their son’s behalf after the crash, because they had the right legal documents in place.
"We were able to deal with his college. We were able to deal with security here at the hospital, we’re able to deal with the doctors. I can honestly say we’ve had seamless integration as parents for a young adult thanks, absolutely in no small part to having these documents in place," he says.
"It would have been an absolute royal pain to deal with a lot of these parties without those documents, Walny adds.
Walny’s son is now recovering.
Social media posts target young people where they get their information
Walny hopes Darcy Doyle’s posts to her 700 followers on Instagram will help other high school students prepare for the unexpected. She won’t be appearing in any TV commercials or on billboards.
Jenny Doyle, Darcy’s mom, says the social media posts are more likely to get information where kids can access it.
“I think marketing has changed, obviously, over the years. We have four kids and the amount of info that is consumed via social media is insane. So I think it’s a very smart marketing move on Eido’s part because that is how kids are getting information.”
But Walny acknowledges the criticisms of NIL deals for athletes.
Critics argue that introducing money into high school and college sports can corrupt the sport. Poor business sense could land athletes in embarrassing or bad deals that can cost them their eligibility or their reputation.
“I’m worried about NIL," he says. "I think we’ve all seen what NIL has done at the collegiate level. It’s turned college sports into a business and into a profession.”
While Walny says he’s concerned about how NIL will impact high school athletics, he says his firm’s working relationship with Doyle is based on "respect for her and where she wants to go as a student athlete."
Wisconsin's first NIL deal for high school athlete goes to female lacrosse player
Doyle, who has been playing lacrosse since third grade, says she’s excited to have landed the state’s first NIL deal for a high school athlete – especially since she’s a female player of a sport that attracts fewer players than track and field or volleyball.
“I’m just really grateful and happy that I had the opportunity to do this. I hope it helps with women's sports and growing that," she says. "Normally it would go to a basketball player or a volleyball player before a lacrosse player, so I also hope it grows the sport and hopefully more people try it out.”
Walny Legal Group did not disclose the cost of the NIL deal with Doyle. She’ll begin her senior year at the University School of Milwaukee in River Hills this fall.
Next year, she plans to attend Northwestern to play lacrosse and study business.
Katherine Kokal is the education reporter at 89.7 WUWM - Milwaukee's NPR. Have a question about schools or an education story idea? You can reach her at kokal@uwm.edu
Editor's Note: Walny Legal Group is a financial contributor to WUWM.
