National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - Briefly in the News

November 18, 1996

Hall to honor scholar-athletes

An International Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame, which will honor athletes from around the world who have distinguished themselves in sports and academics, will be built on the campus of the University of Rhode Island.

Twenty international scholar-athletes will be chosen for the hall of fame every two years, with the first induction ceremonies taking place June 22, 1997. That will coincide with the opening of the second World Scholar-Athlete Games, which will be conducted on the Rhode Island campus and in nearby Newport. The first World Scholar-Athlete Games in 1993 drew 1,600 teenagers from 109 countries.

The hall of fame will be an educational and community outreach center that also will house the headquarters for the Institute for International Sport. A bimonthly lecture series, seminars addressing current issues in sport and youth community outreach programs are some of the activities scheduled for the Hall of Fame. Features will include a gallery exhibiting sports photography and sports art from more than 100 countries, an international sports library featuring a collection of rare books on sport, and works of art by World Scholar-Athlete Games participants.

Stretching exercise

A strange thing happened to the George Mason University women's soccer team on its way to the 1996 Kellogg's-Colonial Athletic Association championship.

The Patriots were 30 miles from their destination of Wilmington, North Carolina, when the temperature alarm went off on the charter bus. The driver pulled off Interstate 40 and discovered that the belt that drives the cooling system had snapped.

The driver let the bus cool and started again, but it quickly became apparent that the problem had to be fixed.

George Mason assistant coach Paul Ellis, a former member of the British Royal Marine Commandos, jumped into action and fastened a belt from a pair of pants. The makeshift remedy lasted a mile.

After a brief brainstorming session, the team put its best leg forward and used a pair of a player's pantyhose as the cooling belt.

Sophomore defender Jenn Jones made the donation, and her pair of hose carried the team to Wilmington, where it cruised into town at 55 mph in time for the tournament's awards banquet.

"I didn't think it would work," head coach Jac Cicalo said. "I just said, 'Thank goodness we are working with women.' "

"We took the bus in the next day to get repaired, and all the mechanics were laughing -- even they couldn't believe it," Ellis said.

"But we had to get to the banquet."

Senior fullback

When the La Verne College football team has a need for experience, it has just the person to turn to in fullback Ken Powell.

At 37, he is 20 years older than the team's youngest player and six years older than the head coach, Don Morel.

Powell is senior not only in years lived, but also in life experiences. According to The Associated Press, he is busy healing a life that took a wrong turn toward alcohol and drug abuse. His bad turn came with special consequences: He spent four months in a county jail and nearly a year in the penitentiary for felony grand theft.

He last played 18 years ago, finishing his junior year at Linfield College, which means that this is his last season of eligibility. Under Division III rules, an athlete can compete four seasons in 10 full-time semesters, no matter how long it takes.

These days, Powell has a wife, two kids, a full football schedule, night classes and student teaching. He is admired by the coach ("Ken's a positive to the overall chemistry of the team," Morel said) and his teammates.

And at the end of it all, he's a happy guy.

"My father gets to see me successful and sober," he said. "I've taken quite a fall. The sweetest part is to see the pain lifted from their souls."

--Compiled by David Pickle

Facilities

A new facility at Westminster College (Missouri) has been dedicated as the Wetterau Center for Field Sports in honor of Ted C. Wetterau, who made the lead gift for the $1 million project. The facility, which opened in early October, houses Westminster football, baseball, cross country, soccer and softball. Westminster reinstated football this year after a 65-year hiatus.

A 900-seat baseball stadium at the College of William and Mary is being planned following the donation of $1.8 million by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph J. Plumeri II. It will be named Plumeri Park and honors the former William and Mary baseball and football player who attended the school during the 1960s. The facility will include a grandstand, locker rooms, press box and seating, concession space, dugouts, batting cage and lighting. The current field is shared by several of the college's athletics teams while the new facility will be devoted to baseball.

The University of Missouri, Columbia, has received a $1 million donation that enables the athletics department to work toward completion of its new track/soccer complex within the next two years. The university was without an outdoor track suitable for competition for 20 years before construction of an all-weather track last summer. The track's infield is the site of the soccer field. At the time ground was broken a year ago, completion of the project, which includes the track/soccer stadium, required additional funding.

The 65,000-square-foot Lied Athletic Complex at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, opened in time to provide a home for the cross country, football, soccer and volleyball fall seasons. The complex, financed exclusively through private funding, includes a strength and conditioning center, equipment area, 328-seat auditorium, 14 locker rooms, staff offices, meeting rooms, and the Marilyn and Si Redd Sports Medicine Center.