The NCAA News - News and Features

October 6, 1997

Division II group does not support age-21 eligibility rule

A project team is reporting that it does not support the introduction of legislation dealing with Division II student-athletes' eligibility for NCAA competition after the 21st birthday.

The Proposal No. 150 Project Team's decision came during a September 23 meeting in Pasadena, California, and will be forwarded to the Division II Management Council and Presidents Council.

The project team was formed earlier this year following the adoption of 1997 Convention Proposal No. 150, which directed a study of concerns about older, more experienced athletes' possible competitive advantage in Division II athletics.

The NCAA Council sponsored Proposal No. 150 after withdrawing a proposal for the 1997 Convention that would have required Division II student-athletes who participate in organized competition after turning 21 but before enrolling in college for the first time to be charged with a season of competition for any such competition during each 12-month period following that birthday.

The Council withdrew its sponsorship of that proposal after the Division II subcommittee of the NCAA Presidents Commission expressed doubts about whether such a rule is needed and philosophical concerns about legislation that could reduce access to opportunities for competition.

During its meeting in Pasadena, the project team (including three presidents of Division II institutions, a cross country coach and a student-athlete soccer player) reviewed data obtained from the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse for student-athletes entering college for the first time in 1994, 1995 and 1996.

The data revealed the average age of student-athletes entering Division II institutions during those three years. It also provided a comparison of the average age of entering student-athletes on top teams in each Division II sport during the three-year period and the average age of all other entering Division II student-athletes in those sports.

In addition, the data provided information about the number and average age of foreign student-athletes.

The project team determined that, in general, the data indicate only slight practical differences in the ages of entering students on top teams and those on other teams. The most notable difference was recorded in men's ice hockey, where 41 student-athletes on top teams were an average age of 20.02, compared to 855 hockey players on other teams whose average age is 19.05.

In most sports, the difference in average age of players on top teams and other teams is much smaller.

The project team, after reviewing statistics for 1,232 foreign student-athletes who entered Division II institutions during the three-year period, also determined that only 27 of those athletes would have been impacted by adoption of legislation regarding student-athletes' eligibility for competition after the 21st birthday.

The project team concluded that the data do not support the adoption of such legislation in Division II.

However, the project team acknowledged that the Management Council and Presidents Council may wish to study other issues that arose during the project team's deliberations.

Specifically, the project team noted concerns about the difficulty in determining the amateur standing of foreign student-athletes who enter Division II institutions, as well as concerns about the amount of financial aid provided by institutions to foreign student-athletes compared to that provided to domestic student-athletes.

The project team suggested that those topics could be reviewed through the existing Division II committee structure (for example, the Division II Eligibility Committee or Division II Legislation Committee) or by another project team.

Meanwhile, the Proposal No. 150 Project Team will report to the 1998 Convention, as directed by the Convention resolution. It also determined that its work is completed and will recommend that it be disbanded.