Know who you are dealing with before money or rights move.
Know Your Athlete (KYA) is a consent-based verification record for athlete identity, representation authority, eligibility context, and public NIL disclosures. It sits between an application and the public ledger: nothing is published until the checks are done and the person says yes.
KYA is not a government ID system, not an NCAA eligibility determination, not a background-check guarantee, and not legal representation.
Who it is for
Prove you are you, on your terms
Identity, role, who represents you, your wallet, your agreement, your disclosure: checked once, shown as status, never as documents.
Minors never go public alone
Under the age of majority, a verified guardian must complete their own profile and authority check before any listing or agreement activates.
Roles with evidence
A roster or profile link, a school domain, a program page: role status is "verified" only with something a stranger could check.
Authority you can show
Representation is declared by the athlete and documented by the representative; it expires unless renewed.
A counterparty you can verify
Organization onboarding checks the entity, the domain, and the signatory before a deal card is issued.
Signed answers
The verification API returns status and proof metadata under a server signature. Never raw evidence.
The workflow (each step private until the last)
| Stage | What happens | Publication |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Start profile | Athlete, Coach, Creator, Parent/Guardian, Agent/Representative, School/Program, or Brand | Private |
| 2 · Consent | Privacy notice, verification consent, ledger disclosure choice, communication permissions | Private |
| 3 · Identity check | Legal name, age band, email, phone; government-ID verification through a vetted provider vendor not yet connected | Private |
| 4 · Role verification | Roster or profile link; representative's authority evidence; school domain | Private |
| 5 · Representation | Self-represented, parent or guardian, attorney, licensed sports agent, or organization | Private |
| 6 · Wallet binding | A SIWE signature binds an athlete-controlled wallet; nothing moves, no token | Verified privately |
| 7 · Agreement | Countersigned Champion agreement or Ambassador terms, approved disclosure language | Pending ledger |
| 8 · Publish | Only selected fields: display name, role, verified status, disclosure, agreement status, wallet proof | Public |
Verification tiers (never a single generic badge)
| Badge | Meaning | Public? |
|---|---|---|
| Email verified | Controls the listed email address | optional |
| Wallet claimed | Signed a SIWE message from the linked wallet | public |
| Identity verified | Private identity check completed with a vetted vendor | public, without documents |
| Role verified | Athlete, coach, creator, or organization role has corroborating evidence | public |
| Authority verified | A guardian, agent, or organization has documented authority where applicable | public, limited detail |
| Agreement active | NIL33 agreement is countersigned and in force | public |
| Disclosure active | Required paid or unpaid endorsement disclosure is specified | public |
| Review due | Re-verification is required because identity, authority, age, agreement, or affiliation may have changed | public |
A profile says KYA Verified only when identity, role, consent, authority (or self-representation), an active agreement, and wallet control are all complete. The wallet proof is an ownership signal, not identity verification.
What stays private, always
Documents and numbers
Government ID images and numbers, full date of birth, home address, personal phone and email, signed agreement files, payment instructions.
Guardian first, 13 and up only
No profiles under 13. For 13 to 17, the guardian is verified before any identity check, so no document or selfie of a minor reaches a vendor without an adult's consent. Face-match data is handled under the vendor's processor terms with no retention past the match (Illinois BIPA, Texas CUBI, and Washington MHMDA are the reference standards).
Life details
School schedule, travel, roster identifiers, location data, medical, academic, immigration, disciplinary, or background information.
Only the core
Identity chosen for publication, relationship type, agreement status, compensation type, disclosure language, system endorsed, wallet verification state.
State of the build
Profiles, consent, role evidence, authority invites, wallet binding, namespaces, signed API, self-service export and withdrawal, founder review desk
Running on nil33.com today.
Government-ID identity vendor
Identity status stays "not started" until a vetted vendor is contracted (founder flag F-30). The adapter for Stripe Identity is built and off; NIL33 will never store raw ID documents itself, and the vendor must act as a processor that does not keep a biometric template past the match.
Email verification, review schedules
Email status is set by the founder after a reply; automatic re-verification dates are recorded but not yet enforced by a job.
Verified by NIL33, not endorsed by a school, league, or governing body.