The NCAA News - News & Features

Council responds to health and safety recommendations

1. Recommendation: Require the first two days of spring football practice to be noncontact; reduce the number of contact days from 10 to five, while maintaining a total of 15 practice days; and remove shoulder pads from all noncontact practices.

Response: This legislation will be considered at the 1997 Convention for both Division I and II. It will be sponsored by Council for Division II only.

2. Recommendation: Establish uniform penalties for personnel, including coaches and officials, for their use of tobacco products in violation of NCAA legislation.

Response: Council will sponsor legislation for consideration at the Convention.

3. Recommendation: Support modification of existing tobacco-use legislation to include those products that are indistinguishable from tobacco, such as mint snuff and other tobacco "substitutes."

Response: Council declined to sponsor legislation in this area, citing a need to develop a level of "trust" in intercollegiate athletics.

4. Recommendation: Authorize NCAA testing of student-athletes who test positive for banned substances by another athletics drug-testing organization.

Response: This legislation will be considered at the Convention, but without Council sponsorship.

5. Recommendation: The following should be considered in the next round of Division I athletics certification:

a. A greater emphasis on review of equitable access to and allocation of sports equipment and sports medicine, athletics training-room and strength and conditioning facilities and resources for male and female student-athletes is requested to be incorporated into the next cycle of the Division I athletics certification program and any similar certification process developed by Divisions II and III.

b. A commitment to minimal requirements for adequate emergency medical care at all in-season and out-of-season practices and competitions is requested to be incorporated into the next cycle of Division I athletics certification and any similar certification process developed by Divisions II and III.

c. Required certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation techniques (CPR), first aid, and prevention of disease transmission (as outlined by OSHA guidelines) for all athletics personnel associated with practices, competitions, skill instruction, and strength and conditioning is requested to be incorporated into the next cycle of Division I athletics certification. New staff engaged in these activities should comply with these rules within six months of employment.

Response: These recommendations have been forwarded to the Division I Committee on Athletics Certification.

6. Recommendation: If athletics certification in Divisions II and III is not forthcoming, then Council is requested to sponsor legislation specific to these divisions to achieve a commitment to minimal requirements for adequate emergency medical care at all in-season and out-of-season practices and competitions.

Response: Noting that formal certification in Divisions II and III was unlikely and that legislation for this topic would be difficult, Council recommended incorporation of this statement into the institutional self-study guides for Division II. Division III referred the issue to its membership subcommittee.

7. Recommendation: The student-athlete special assistance fund, as it relates to health issues, should aid student-athletes in all three divisions.

Response: Council did not endorse this concept. However, there was significant interest in this issue by Divisions II and III and it is anticipated that this concept will be considered by these groups after restructuring and with division-specific funding.

8. Recommendation: The NCAA should consider funding athletics-related health insurance. If supplied by the institution, such insurance should be made available without regard to gender or revenue production of the involved sport.

Response: Council did not endorse this concept. The Division I steering committee noted that this issue was addressed at the April 30-May 2 NCAA Executive Committee meeting, with approval of the expanded application of the special assistance fund. Considering the interest in Divisions II and III, the issue may be picked up by a particular division after restructuring.

9. Recommendation: Incorporated the following principles into future editions of the NCAA Sports Medicine Handbook.

a. Member institutions should neither practice nor condone discrimination on the basis of race, creed, national origin, sex, age, handicap, disease entity, social status, financial status, sexual orientation, or religious affiliation within their sports-medicine programs.

b. Institutional decisions on availability and qualification of medical personnel (including certified athletic trainers and physicians), availability and quality of weight training and conditioning equipment and facilities, should be based on accepted medical criteria (e.g., rates of injury) and not on the basis of gender or sport.

c. Member institutions should not place their sports medicine staff in compromising situations by having them provide inequitable treatment in violation of their medical codes of ethics.

d. Institutions should be encouraged to incorporate questions regarding adequacy of medical care, with special emphasis on equitable treatment, in exit interviews with student-athletes.

e. As the cost of medical insurance continues to rise, athletics administrators need to better understand the options available regarding insurance. Institutions should examine options other than the use of athletic trainers to handle administrative matters related to insurance.

Response: Council approved the recommendation to include these principles (except for the last line in Item No. 9-e) in future editions of the Sports Medicine Handbook. The competitive-safeguards committee will review this issue as part of its February 1997 agenda.

10. Recommendation: NCAA professional development of coaches seminars should include a significant component of health and safety issues.

Response: The Executive Committee voted not to support the professional development of coaches seminars. This issue was not discussed in detail at the Council meeting but it is an important component of the education section of the health and safety plan. The issue will be addressed at the competitive-safeguards committee's February 1997 meeting.