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The NCAA News -- May 24, 1999

Certified events group gives initial approval to 24 contests

The NCAA's Certified Events Subcommittee reviewed submissions from 43 potential certified contests and gave initial approval to 24 of those events during its April 29-30 meeting in Indianapolis.

Of the 24 events the subcommittee recommended for approval, 15 were men's basketball events, eight were women's basketball events, and one was for men's ice hockey.

Three of the applications -- all in men's basketball -- were new events, including the America's Youth Classic (sponsored by the Eddie Robinson Foundation at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tennessee, November 19-20, 1999); the St. Louis Classic (sponsored by the Missouri Valley Conference at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, November 13-14, 1999); and the Hoop and Quill Classic (sponsored by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association at the St. Charles Arena in St. Charles, Missouri, November 27-29, 1999).

All 24 events recommended for approval will be forwarded to the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet for review in July.

The subcommittee deferred action on the remaining 19 applications, pending additional documentation or further information to be reviewed by the subcommittee at a future meeting. The 19 events deferred included 10 in men's basketball, three in women's basketball, one in men's and women's basketball, three in ice hockey, one in baseball and one in men's volleyball.

In addition to its ongoing review of certified event applications, the subcommittee also reviewed a draft of a questionnaire to be distributed to all participating teams in certified events that would solicit feedback on whether the event was conducted according to the standards set forth in the application for certified status. The subcommittee agreed that the questionnaire should be distributed each spring to participating institutions to ascertain information specific to the event. Results of the survey will be summarized during the subcommittee's fall meeting.

In addition, the subcommittee discussed the required audit of certified events and identified several items to be included in the audit. As required by NCAA Bylaws 30.10.1.6 and 30.10.3.6, which were adopted at the 1996 NCAA Convention, certified events are to be audited once every five years.

The subcommittee determined the following items to be included in the audit:

  • Timing of reimbursement to participating institutions;

  • All expenses and revenues, including trade-outs;

  • Review of television contracts;

  • Review of contracts with participating teams;

  • Review of financial benefit to promoters; and

  • Analysis of the distribution of revenue over expenses.

    In another action, the subcommittee reviewed a section of the report of the Ad Hoc Committee to Review Diversity Issues that identified a disproportionate number of certified events for men as compared to events for women.

    In response to the identified issue, the subcommittee recommended that increasing the percentage of travel reimbursement for women's certified events be reviewed before the legislated increase occurs for the 2002-03 academic year. The percentage for men's events is scheduled to increase to 75 percent in 2000, then to 100 percent in 2001.

    The subcommittee did not support eliminating the financial reimbursement requirements for new or only women's events.

    Other highlights

    Certified Events Subcommittee
    April 29-30/Indianapolis

  • Discussed whether the subcommittee should still be required to approve all experimental basketball rules as submitted by the Men's and Women's Basketball Rules Committees. It has been the policy for the subcommittee to review and approve experimental rules that are to be used in certified events; however, the subcommittee questioned the value of such a review and is asking that the policy be eliminated. The subcommittee did recommend, however, that all certified contests conducted before January 1 use the experimental rules.

  • Reviewed a request to allow the national assignor of officials in a particular sport to determine officiating assignments in a certified event in lieu of a Division I conference. The subcommittee did not support the request, reiterating that any Division I conference -- not just the host institution's conference -- can be the assignor.

  • Recommended that basketball events with only one contest should not be considered for certification.

  • Recommended that the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet discuss a streamlined process for formal approval of certified events, with the goal of reducing the time delay between the application deadline and final cabinet approval.