The NCAA News - News Features

Notice offers small consent package

This is the first of seven articles on legislation that has been submitted for the 91st annual NCAA Convention January 11-15, 1997, in Nashville, Tennessee. In addition to announcing the mailing of the Official Notice of the Convention, the article reviews the six proposals in the consent package. In the next six issues of The NCAA News, other groupings of amendments will be reviewed.

Another small consent package heads a total of 149 proposals appearing in the Official Notice of the 1997 Convention, which was mailed to the membership November 15.

The consent package again includes only six proposals -- matching last year's record low total. The consent package typically has been small since the NCAA Council received the authority to enact noncontroversial legislation between Conventions.

Proposals in the consent package are considered noncontroversial or "housekeeping" in nature.

As has been true for several years, the consent package is the first grouping of proposals that appears in the Official Notice, but those proposals are not the first legislation that will be considered by the Convention.

The Convention first will consider 72 proposals identified by the NCAA Presidents Commission as being of significant interest to chief executive officers.

Sessions on Monday, January 13 -- designated as Presidential Agenda Day -- will be devoted to those proposals, first in an early morning general business session and then in midmorning and afternoon subdivision and division business sessions.

The day will conclude with another general business session.

All proposals in the Presidents Commission groupings and in other groupings of proposals will be summarized in coming issues of The NCAA News.

The 149 proposals in the Official Notice are accompanied by 14 proposed amendments-to-amendments. In comparison, the Official Notice for the 1996 Convention included 133 proposals and 30 amendments-to-amendments. Two years ago, the Official Notice featured 150 proposals and nine amendments-to-amendments.

Seven of the 14 amendments-to-amendments proposed for the 1997 Convention pertain to proposals dealing with membership restructuring.

Consent package

All six proposals in the consent package are sponsored by the NCAA Council and stem from recommendations by various NCAA committees.

Two of the proposals are based on recommendations of the NCAA Olympic Sports Liaison Committee. One of the proposals would permit a school to replace temporarily a coach who takes a leave of absence for involvement with a U.S. national or Olympic team.

The other would eliminate the requirement that schools must seek a waiver every time a student-athlete wishes to participate in official tryouts and competition in conjunction with national and international events such as the Olympics and Pan American Games, world-championship and World Cup events, and state and national multisport events like the U.S. Olympic Festival.

Two other proposals resulted from recommendations of the NCAA National Youth Sports Program Committee. One would permit member conferences to provide Youth Education Through Sports (YES) clinic participants with free admission to conference tournaments, while the other would confirm that coaches' and student-athletes' participation in National Youth Sports Program and YES events is exempted from Association restrictions regarding camps and clinics.

The NCAA Recruiting Committee is the source of a proposal that would permit a coaching staff member who is the parent or legal guardian of a prospective student-athlete to observe any athletics activity -- not just competition -- involving that prospect, while maintaining restrictions governing that coach's contact with other prospects.

Finally, a proposal recommended by the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee would permit an institution to pay a student-athlete's actual and necessary expenses to participate in National Student-Athlete Day activities and events.

Mailing of Notice

The Official Notice was mailed to chief executive officers, faculty athletics representatives, directors of athletics, senior woman administrators and compliance coordinators at NCAA institutions. Conference commissioners and provisional, affiliated and corresponding members also will receive copies.

Chief executive officers also were mailed a form on which the CEO must appoint an institution's delegates to the Convention.

The Official Notice is the final publication of proposed legislation for the 1997 Convention. Proposals will not be reprinted in the Convention program, although that publication will list any necessary editorial changes made between now and the Convention.

Summary

Following is a summary of the six proposals in the consent package, including the sponsor of each proposal.

No. 1: Permit a coach to be temporarily replaced when that coach takes a leave of absence to participate on or to coach either the U.S. national team or U.S. Olympic team, provided the replacement is limited to a one-year period and the coach performs no recruiting or other duties on behalf of the institution. Sponsored by the Council; recommended by the Olympic Sports Liaison Committee. Division I business session.

No. 2: Permit a coaching staff member who is the parent or legal guardian of a prospect to observe any activity (including practices, contests and camps) involving that prospect. Sponsored by the Council; recommended by the Recruiting Committee. Divisions I and II business sessions.

No. 3: Permit conferences to provide to NCAA Youth Education Through Sports (YES) clinic participants complimentary admissions to attend conference tournaments. Sponsored by the Council; recommended by the National Youth Sports Program Committee. General business session; all divisions voting.

No. 4: Confirm that it is permissible for coaches and student-athletes at member institutions to participate in the National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) and Youth Education Through Sports (YES) program and that such participation is exempt from NCAA restrictions on camps and clinics. Sponsored by the Council; recommended by the National Youth Sports Program Committee. General business session; all divisions voting.

No. 5: Eliminate the requirement that the Council approve waivers of specified national and international outside competitions. Sponsored by the Council; recommended by the Olympic Sports Liaison Committee. General business session; all divisions voting.

No. 6: Permit an institution to pay actual and necessary expenses for a student-athlete to participate in activities and events associated with National Student-Athlete Day. Sponsored by the Council; recommended by the Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee. General business session; all divisions vote together.

Next week: The membership-restructuring proposals in the Presidents Commission grouping.