National Collegiate Athletic Association |
CommentJune 2, 1997
Guest editorial -- Cooperative effort more than marketing
BY GRANT TEAFF
The coming together of several entities to form NCAA Football is significant because it signals the first large-scale, cooperative effort being undertaken to promote the best interests of football. The partners -- the American Football Coaches Association, the Collegiate Commissioners Association, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and the NCAA -- all have a responsibility to protect their individual vested interests, but in the end, everyone believes that giving up a little for the common good of all will benefit the sport immensely. The potential of the program is evident. The National Football League has only 30 teams, but it has an almost unlimited budget to promote the league. The NFL does it in grand style. Now, consider that there are more than 670 four-year institutions that sponsor football. Add to that mix several hundred junior colleges and 15,000 high schools playing football. It is mind-boggling to think what a united effort could do for the game at all levels. NCAA Football is much more than a marketing effort or a business plan. It has just as much to do with protecting and promoting the game so that it can grow and prosper. There are some challenges. Cost-cutting and/or gender-equity concerns have caused many colleges and high schools to downsize or do away with football programs. Other sports are gaining in popularity. Soccer in particular comes to mind as having successfully implemented an integrated plan to become more visible and attract participants and spectators. Isolated incidents involving football coaches or players make headlines and wrongly cast the entire sport as out of control. They denigrate the thousands of individuals who represent their schools and themselves in an admirable manner on and off the field of play. The image of the game we are so passionate about needs to be nurtured.
Youth football is where future high-school and college players (and students) get their first taste of the game, and it is up to all of us involved in the sport to make sure it is a pleasurable, rewarding experience. Organizations are adapting by developing innovative programs to make the game more "user-friendly" to young people. Pop Warner, for instance, has initiated flag-tag programs and conducts coaching clinics. The AAU is creating seven-on-seven leagues that will increase skill levels. The NFL has made a substantial commitment to youth development and has initiated several programs to attract young male and female participants and spectators alike. It would be wise to look past the practical aspects of NCAA Football and address the philosophical view of what the game offers to the community. Football has become part of the fabric of our society. It is important that we as educators, administrators, coaches, players and spectators are truly committed to the game and its ideals. The game provides enriching experiences and produces role models who become solid citizens. That translates into a better, more productive society for all of us. Perhaps the real mission of NCAA Football is couched in the following quote from the late David Nelson, the former University of Delaware football coach, who was influential in shaping the game for more than five decades as a member and, later, chairman of the NCAA Football Rules Committee. In his book, "The Anatomy of a Game," Nelson wrote: "...College football...is a total human experience with faith and hope as its cornerstones and beauty, grace and excellence as its driving forces. It is a ritual that transcends politics and entertainment, an emotional experience that will live for many ages because it is of the spirit. When all things pass, the spirit remains." Nelson's prediction that football will survive may be right, but maintaining the game's purity and true sense of purpose will be a challenge -- and goal -- for all of us who are bringing the game into the 21st century. Grant Teaff is executive director of the American Football Coaches Association. This commentary first appeared in "Sidelines," the official publication of the AFCA. Letter to the Editor -- Women should receive half of all fundsI am responding to John Herbold's recent letter (June 30) regarding Title IX compliance. I disagree with many of his assertions about how to best achieve funding equity, if in fact that is what he endorsed. As a coach myself, I do not relish the cancellation of any athletics program, men's or women's. The recent cancellation of many men's programs nationwide is entirely the result of short-sighted athletics directors giving only lip service to Title IX for many years and counting on a lack of enforcement. In many instances, universities gave the appearance of compliance by allotting additional scholarships to women's programs; however, few actually funded women's sports programs sufficiently to provide for extensive recruiting. Case in point: Central Washington University, an NAIA member, offers 14 sports, seven women's and seven men's. Only two women's sports have full-time coaches, as compared to five full-time coaching positions for men's sports. Coaches for football and men's basketball canvass the entire state for weeks at a time, scouring the countryside for eligible athletes. Though Central provides ample tuition waivers for female athletes, little funding is committed to similar recruitment for women's sports, leaving some waivers unclaimed. One final point regarding the recurring notion that football has no equivalent in women's sports and should be left out of the equation. I propose the following radical solution: The NCAA should increase scholarship allotments for women's track and field equal to men's football. With 21 events contested, women's track and field can easily accommodate 80-plus female athletes, solving this often-mentioned "problem." Mr. Herbold said he barely made the team in 1948, but compared to women at that time who had no intercollegiate athletics opportunities, he was fortunate. The history of funding for women's sports is short indeed, and though women have made substantial progress despite great resistance, as demonstrated by Mr. Herbold's opinions, we still have a long way to go. This may be a hard pill for some to swallow, but women athletes are entitled to half of all athletics funds. Linda M. Wallace, Graduate Student, Central Washington University Opinions -- Baseball fans have responded to Omaha improvementsRonald J. Maestri, director of athletics
University of New Orleans Discussing the success of the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska: "You come here that first time and you're enthralled. I remember thinking that this was the most beautiful situation you could find yourself in. "But just standing here and looking at the physical improvements that have been made here over the years is astounding. The playing surface, the seating, the scoreboard. And, as we put in more seats, you just hope they (fans) will come. And they have come."
Proposal No. 62
Steven J. Hatchell, commissioner Discussing legislation that will permit Division I student-athletes to earn up to the cost of attendance through employment in the academic year: "We know of an institution that went out and got a booster who gave them $1 million to put into the bank to fund paying the athletes in football and basketball. We are going to go back to the $25 an hour paint-this-white-fence programs."
Cameron Maun, columnist "Don't tell me abuse wouldn't happen. It happens now anyway. "I suppose we could shut our eyes, turn our heads and pretend as though corruption wouldn't be a problem. But it seems to be a problem now anyway. "Would legalizing marijuana make a country's drug woes go away? Probably not. "And would part-time work overtax a student-athlete? One can easily make the argument that attending school is a full-time job and attending school and participating in athletics is the equivalent of two full-time jobs. Could we reasonably expect a student-athlete working a part-time job to maintain quality grades and still enjoy their newfound compensation for what free time they have left? "Of course, many athletes on partial scholarship work jobs to make ends meet. They are limited in the amount they may earn so as not to exceed the value of a full scholarship. No problem there, I say. "The problem is when compensation goes above the value of a scholarship. Do we also pay those on academic scholarship for the cost of living? "The purpose of college is not to train for a future in professional sports. It is to educate. "Some say the scholarship athlete needs spending money or compensation for 'the cost of attendance' at a particular university. "Well, what would the scholarship athlete do for spending money if he or she were attending school without the benefit of an athletics scholarship? "The point is, scholarship athletes are compensated, to a large degree, with education. If taken advantage of, this deal seems to be fair. "No one forces anyone to accept a scholarship offer. The alternative is to pay your own way. Like most everyone else. "Should schools provide opportunity for athletes? Sure. Should they be training grounds for athletes? No way. "What's next? Do we compensate our high-school athletes?"
Cheating on tests
Terrance Roberson, basketball player Discussing what he claims to be widespread cheating on standardized tests required for NCAA initial eligibility (Roberson says he did not cheat when taking his test): "If you're a decent basketball player, you're pushed into it. You're thinking, 'If I don't pass this test, I might not be in school. I might still be around my neighborhood.' You're going to do whatever it takes. In this world, if you ain't got caught, you ain't cheating."
Title IX
Rick Dorsey, staff writer "Title IX compliance cannot be achieved overnight. Unfortunately, many of its proponents don't understand that. They want those numbers in line now. "To comply, most schools must reduce or eliminate such men's sports as wrestling and lacrosse, and add women's sports. "To cut from football or men's basketball would be risky in an increasingly competitive landscape. Those sports sometimes provide revenue that benefits other sports on campus. To tamper with them could cost whole departments in the future. "If you don't tamper with your money makers, the nonrevenue men's sports will take the fall. Since Title IX was passed in 1972, the NCAA reported that more than 500 women's teams have been added and more than 200 men's teams eliminated. "That's not the spirit of Title IX. It's more like retribution. "Change the equation. Eliminate football from the formula."
Richard Quick, women's swimming coach "Personally, I don't think schools have to drop men's sports to meet Title IX requirements. It takes restructuring. At Stanford, we've added women's sports and not dropped men's sports. The athletics department had to stretch hard to make that happen. I'm not saying all schools can do it. I know it wasn't easy."
Joyce Aschenbrenner, associate athletics director "(Discontinuing men's sports is) robbing Peter to pay Pauline. But Title IX isn't a 'fair' issue. It's a difficult situation when you cut a men's sport as you add a women's sport. It creates a lot of animosity. It's not fair that men's sports are being cut, but it also isn't fair that women have been denied equal opportunities in athletics for all these years."
Baseball and minorities
Bobby Bonds, former baseball player Discussing the problems involved in getting black youth involved in baseball in inner cities: "It's become a drug-infested area, and a lot of the Little League teams have been shut down. (A lot of) those areas today are normally associated with drugs or gangs, so it's not an environment conducive to playing sports. The funds aren't being used for playground facilities and youth leagues. So much is being taken from these kids."
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The game of football is not standing still. In addition to the NCAA, NAIA, AFCA, NACDA and CCA, organizations like the Football Bowl Association and the College Sports Information Directors of America are ready and willing to join this effort and are expected to become integral parts of NCAA Football (and NAIA Football). The NFL, in another context, has been very cooperative with the AFCA in recent years in identifying and addressing needs at the other levels of play.