BOULDER, Colo. (AP) -- Colorado receiver Jeremy Bloom will join the U.S. ski team in Chile for training while he waits to hear whether the NCAA will allow him to play football while accepting ski endorsements.
Bloom will head to Santiago, Chile, on Sunday but said he would return to Boulder if the NCAA rules in his favor.
``If and hopefully when I get positive news, I'll be on the first flight back from Santiago so I can be back on the field with my football teammates as soon as possible,'' Bloom said Saturday.
The NCAA bars collegiate athletes from accepting endorsement income, although it allows students to be a professional in one sport if they compete at the college level in another.
Previously Bloom has paid for his ski training himself, allowing him to remain eligible for college football. He started accepting endorsements last winter, saying it was the only way he could fund his Olympic training.
Bloom and Colorado then filed a waiver to play football while accepting endorsements to pay for training for the 2006 Winter Games. Bloom fulfilled a request from the NCAA for additional documentation Friday, but the NCAA has yet to rule on Bloom's eligibility.
Bloom said he told CU teammates and coaches Saturday morning after talking with his parents and ski coaches that he was leaving for Chile.
``Since I had no indication Friday of which way the NCAA will rule and no guarantee that on Monday, if then, that it will rule in my favor, I felt it was important to take advantage of the only summer training camp offered by the U.S. ski team,'' Bloom said in a statement distributed by the university.
Colorado coach Gary Barnett supported Bloom's decision.
``As a parent, I would have advised him to do this, and as a coach, I would have advised the same,'' Barnett said. ``There is only one of these ski camps and there are a lot of football practices.''
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