National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News Digest

February 10, 1997

INITIAL ELIGIBILITY

New York legislator proposes ban on NCAA academic standards

A New York state assemblyman, Richard Brodsky, has introduced legislation to amend the state's education statute to prohibit New York colleges and universities from using NCAA initial-eligibility standards in awarding athletics grants-in-aid.

The proposed legislation says: "No institution of higher education in the state shall condition an athletic scholarship upon standards directed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association for high-school academic achievement or performance on a standardized college entrance examination."

Gov. George Pataki reportedly has asked state education officials to examine NCAA initial-eligibility standards and to advise him on how the state should respond.


CITIZENSHIP

Sports officials announce creation of major new initiative

National organizations for collegiate, professional, high-school and Olympic sports have formed the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance to promote positive behavior in sports.

The alliance includes the National Football League, National Hockey League, National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, United States Olympic Committee, NCAA, National Federation of State High School Associations, National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and National Junior College Athletic Association.

The alliance, which is an outgrowth of a report to the 1996 Convention by the NCAA Presidents Commission Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct in Intercollegiate Athletics, has been in the planning stages for more than a year.

Staff contact: Daniel Boggan Jr.

PROJECT 2000

Analysis underway of four potential headquarter sites

A consulting firm is comparing data from each of the four cities under consideration for the NCAA national office site.

Membership and staff representatives visited the four metropolitan areas -- Denver, Dallas, Kansas City and Indianapolis -- between January 21 and January 30 as part of the process to determine a site for the Association's national office after the lease for the current facility in Overland Park, Kansas, expires in 2000.

Each community provided more than one option in its proposal:

Denver -- Three sites: (1) near Denver International Airport; (2) at Stapleton International Airport; and (3) downtown.

Dallas -- Three sites, all near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

Kansas City -- Three sites: (1) an enhanced version of the Association's current facility; (2) Corporate Woods, an office complex near the current facility; and (3) Crown Center, an area near downtown Kansas City, Missouri.

Indianapolis -- Two sites: (1) near White River State Park, park land that flanks a river that runs through Indianapolis; and (2) near the Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis campus.

Staff contact: Wallace I. Renfro.

INJURY RATES

'96 women's soccer injury rates well over 11-year average

Game and practice injury rates for women's soccer for the 1996 season were higher than for the sport's 11-year average, according to the NCAA's Injury Surveillance System.

The game injury rate was 21.0 for every 1,000 athlete-exposures, while the practice rate was 7.3. The 11-year averages are 17.8 and 6.0.

Injuries to the knee, upper leg and ankle were the most common. Anterior cruciate ligament injuries occurred at a rate 3.5 times that of the men's game, continuing a trend that began in 1988.

Staff contact: Frank D. Uryasz.

GRADUATION RATES

Disclosure form due at national office by March 1

Compliance-form designees at Division I institutions are reminded that the 1997 NCAA graduation-rates disclosure form is to be return-ed to the national office by March 1.

Along with other information, institutions are required to submit graduation data for the entering freshman class of 1990-91 and the transfers of 1990-91 and enrollment data for the fall 1996 term.

Staff contact: Maria DeJulio.