National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - Briefly in the News

December 9, 1996

Vaulting back from the ashes

You can't keep a good gymnastics program down.

On September 21, Auburn University's program was jolted when fire destroyed the team's practice facility at the Auburn Sports Arena. But two weeks later, the squad was back in business in a new place with new equipment.

"The old Sports Arena had been our home for 11 years," said Auburn coach Robert Dillard. "I got to the fire shortly after it started. I was going to move the gymnastics van, but I remembered the key was in the office.

"As soon as I saw the fire, I knew there was no way to save the building. We have worked so hard to fix up the building with new equipment.

"While everyone else was crying, I was wondering where we were going to practice. We lost everything but the uniforms, which I keep at home."

However, the next day Dillard and athletics director David Housel met with the team to tell it that efforts were underway to relocate the practice facility and purchase new equipment.

"I told them to stop worrying about the fire and focus on school," Dillard said.

On October 6, two weeks and a day after the fire, the team set up gymnastics equipment in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Colisuem's auxiliary gymnasium. Practice resumed October 7.

"Just as the legendary Phoenix rises from the ashes," Housel said, "so will the Auburn gymnastics team, but stronger and better."

Basketball bump

In the future, expect women's basketball participation to get a once-every-quadrennial boost from the Olympics.

Anne Flannery, manager of women's athletics for Spalding Sports Worldwide, says she believes that the popularity of the U.S. national team will lead to a surge in popularity that will resemble what already occurs in women's gymnastics.

Although basketball participation dipped slightly from 1994 to 1995, Flannery indicated that a surge is likely in the 1996 participation study.

"The U.S. women's national team had a significant impact," Flannery said, "not only by winning the Olympics but in the national tour leading up to the Games. Basketball participation should get the same kind of boost from Olympic exposure that occurs every four years with gymnastics."

The latest survey by the American Basketball Council (ABC) shows that 46 percent of all girls aged 12 to 17 played basketball in 1995.

"Just about everyone in basketball believes even more girls will become involved in the sport," said ABC Executive Director Gregg Hartley. "Women's basketball is getting unprecedented exposure, girls are being encouraged to play as never before, and new opportunities are constantly opening up."

The ABC reported that about 13.3 million females age 6 and over played basketball in 1995, which is a 21 percent increase over the 11 million who played in 1987, the first year the study was conducted.

The ABC said that basketball is the second most popular team sport among females, trailing volleyball (13.8 million in 1995). Soccer (12.2 million) and softball (7.3 million) are other high-involvement sports for young women.

Among men, a total of 33.3 million of those age 6 and older played basketball in 1995. About two-thirds of all boys between 12 and 17 participated in basketball in 1995, according to the survey.

Visible praise

The academic advising program at Iona College was featured prominently in the November 17 issue of The New York Times.

Most of the story was devoted to the hands-on approach of Brother J. D. Concannon, the academic advisor for the 400 athletes at the institution. Collectively, they have a 2.84 grade-point average.

"If the word gets out that Brother is looking for you," Concannon told the Times, "you might as well go upstairs and face the music. I don't let up in trying to help a student. They know that I'm not going to go away. If we contact them at the halfway point with a problem, they can take the next step and get extra work before it's too late."

Said Michael McGrath, vice provost for student development at Iona: "The conversation involving sports and college has to change. Too many administrators at the elementary, high-school and college levels frame the discussion along athletic lines. We try to reframe it to look at the college's primary mission, which is academic. Secondarily, we like to win at sports."

-- Compiled by David Pickle

News quiz

1. The Governement Accounting Office reports that more than half of the 80 complaints investigated and resolved by the U.S. Office for Civil Rights since 1992 have resulted in compliance with Title IX or in action that should result in compliance based on which part of the agency's "three-part test" of compliance? (a) substantial proportionality; (b) progress toward proportionality; (c) accommodation of the interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex; (d) substantial proportionality and progress toward proportionality combined.

2. Which school has led during recent years in attendance in Division I women's volleyball? (a) University of Hawaii, Manoa; (b) University of Nebraska, Lincoln; (c) University of New Mexico; (d) University of Florida.

3. Under new weigh-in rules recently adopted by the NCAA Wrestling Committee, competitors in NCAA wrestling championships must make weight on how many days during a championship? (a) one; (b) two; (c) three; (d) every day.

4. True or false: According to a study of revenues and expenses at NCAA Division III institutions, an average of $80,400 was spent on football by Division III schools that sponsored the sport during the 1994-95 fiscal year.

5. How many Division I-A institutions reported a profit from their women's basketball programs in 1995? (a) 3; (b) 5; (c) 9; (d) 19.

6. True or false: In recent years, distances in NCAA swimming championships events have been measured in meters.

7. Which of this year's NCAA Silver Anniversary Award recipients is a New York State Assemblyman? (a) Tommy Casanova; (b) Jack Ford; (c) James Tedisco; (d) Herb Washington.

8. Which frequent top-five finisher in the NCAA Division III Men's Cross Country Championships won its first championship in the event this year? (a) University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh; (b) University of Wisconsin, La Crosse; (c) University of Wisconsin, Parkville; (d) University of Wisconsin, River Falls.

NEWS QUIZ ANSWERS -- 1 - c; 2 - a; 3 - a; 4 - True; 5 - b; 6 - False (measured in yards); 7 - c; 8 - b.