The NCAA News - News & Features

Fulfilling a mission

--NCAA Sports Sciences Mission Statement

By Frank D. Uryasz
NCAA Director of Sports Sciences

Most of us probably have participated in some sort of planning. One of the most challenging aspects of this exercise is developing a mission statement that summarizes who you are, what you do and why you do it, and says it in a way that is concise and meaningful. The NCAA sports sciences mission, which appears above, does this well.

The sports sciences staff is no stranger to this process, having participated in the development of strategic plans for the the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports, the Association's sports sciences division and the NCAA 's Education Services Group. Inherent in each is the commitment to the student-athlete and the integrity of athletics through the application of good research, the availability of resources and the delivery of meaningful programs. Here are some examples of how sports sciences projects bring this commitment to life.

Research

With extensive assistance from the faculty athletics representatives (FARs) and the NCAA research staff, we are undertaking our most comprehensive study of the drug-use habits of college student-athletes. When finished, we will have data on nearly 30,000 student-athletes from all NCAA sports in all three divisions. This would be impossible without the commitment of the FARs to administer these surveys on their campuses this fall. Further, we are indebted to the student-athletes, who are busy enough without having to complete surveys. These data will assist the Association in tailoring its alcohol and other-drug programs to the needs of the student-athlete. Results should be available this spring.

Resources

Getting educational materials into the right hands, in the right form, at the right time is a challenge. Often, our efforts, although laudable, fall short of reaching the student-athletes. We decided we wanted to do a better job with the materials we produce from sports sciences. So, this fall we have been conducting focus groups of college student-athletes to tell us what works and what does not when it comes to delivering drug-use messages. Special thanks to student-athletes at schools in the Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Washington, DC, areas for helping us.

Programs

This fall, sports sciences assumed responsibility for the NCAA CHOICES program. CHOICES is a grant program that provides funding for NCAA member institutions and conferences for the implementation and evaluation of alcohol-education and prevention programs on college campuses. NCAA schools have used CHOICES grants in exciting ways to involve the athletics departments, in campus-wide alcohol use and abuse prevention programs. If you are responsible for your alcohol and other-drug education programs, and haven't seen the CHOICES call for proposals that was sent in early October, ask your athletics director for a copy.

These are but a few of the many exciting things that are happening to ensure that we are fulfilling our mission to serve you. I hope that you will continue to let us know how we are doing.

To contact Frank D. Uryasz, call 913/339-1906 or fax 913/339-0028.