Leger-Walker condemns SCORE Act as NCAA power grab
Charlisse Leger-Walker has publicly opposed the SCORE Act, warning that it grants the National Collegiate Athletic Association excessive control over athletes, while the bill has been temporarily removed from the US House of Representatives’ voting schedule.
Former UCLA Bruin basketball player Charlisse Leger-Walker has issued a sharp rebuke of the SCORE Act, a proposed United States government regulation designed to oversee collegiate athletics in the wake of the proliferation of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals. Speaking via Zoom, the New Zealand-born athlete argued that the legislation fails to resolve existing structural problems within the system and instead serves to consolidate authority within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
Leger-Walker, who recently concluded her collegiate career after leading the Bruins to an NCAA championship, expressed deep scepticism regarding the organisation’s motives. She stated that the NCAA’s agenda appears to be an attempt to wield absolute power over all college athletes, a move she described as an effort to push women’s sports backward. According to Leger-Walker, neither Congress nor the athletes themselves should trust the governing body to act in the best interests of players.
The former guard, who missed the 2024-2025 season while recovering from a torn ACL before returning as the team’s starting point guard, emphasised the need to protect current and future generations of NCAA athletes. She warned that the bill could establish a precedent allowing the NCAA to dictate new rules and regulations without adequate oversight, thereby entrenching its control over the landscape of college sports.
Despite Leger-Walker’s vocal opposition and the broader debate surrounding the bill, the legislative landscape has shifted in the short term. Yahoo! Sports reported that the SCORE Act has been pulled from the US House of Representatives’ voting schedule for the current week. This procedural delay has led some observers, including Leger-Walker, to characterise the bill as effectively dead, although its long-term status remains uncertain.
While proponents of the SCORE Act argue that government intervention is necessary to regulate the evolving nature of college sports, detractors remain concerned about the potential for the NCAA to absorb significant regulatory power. Leger-Walker’s stance highlights the ongoing tension between legislative oversight and institutional autonomy in American collegiate athletics, with the immediate future of the bill hanging in the balance following its removal from the parliamentary calendar.
