National Collegiate Athletic Association

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The NCAA News -- November 8, 1999

Division III defers stance on proposed ice hockey event

BY KAY HAWES
STAFF WRITER

The Division III Management Council and Presidents Council -- which met October 18-19 in Atlanta and October 28 in Chicago, respectively -- have expressed serious concern regarding proposed legislation to establish an Association-wide women's ice hockey championship.

The Councils, which spent a great deal of their separate meeting times reviewing proposed legislation for the upcoming NCAA Convention, agreed to reconsider their sponsorship of the proposed legislation to establish the championship and its related sports committee.

Both Councils agreed to defer their decisions -- either to support or oppose the legislation -- to their pre-Convention meetings in January.

While both bodies recognized and supported the goals of the proposed championship, they were concerned with the proposed composition of the sports committee, which would administer the championship and select the participants. As is typical with National Collegiate championships, which are funded by Division I, the proposed sport committee structure included three representatives from Division I and one representative each from Divisions II and III, which is the legislated minimum requirement.

The Councils were particularly concerned with that proposed arrangement in the case of women's ice hockey, which currently is sponsored by 23 Division III schools, 19 Division I schools and four Division II schools. As is also typical of National Collegiate championships, the proposal included no provision for Division III teams' inclusion in the tournament itself.

After reviewing Division III participation in other National Collegiate championships, the Management Council expressed dismay that while Division III sports-sponsorship numbers were being used to launch women's ice hockey from an emerging sport to NCAA championship status, there was no assurance that the championship would benefit Division III student-athletes.

The Council noted its belief that -- as the championship was initially proposed -- Division III teams were unlikely to be chosen even though they would likely be competitive nationally, especially during the early years of the championship when relatively few schools offered scholarships in the sport.

Both Councils also noted that the Division III membership would have to pass the proposed legislation at the 2000 Convention in order for the National Collegiate championship to be established, but that once established, the championship would continue even if Division III had enough schools sponsoring the sport (40) to start its own division championship.

The Councils agreed to defer their decisions until January to permit NCAA staff to review options and attempt to resolve the issue.

The Councils are seeking both greater representation on the women's ice hockey committee and also a temporary arrangement that would provide for Division III inclusion in the tournament.

The Councils also noted that the long-term solution to Division III participation in the championship was encouraging institutions to add women's ice hockey, permitting a Division III championship in the sport once division sponsorship reached 40 institutions.

Other proposed legislation

In reviewing other proposed legislation for the January Convention, the Councils supported the creation of a National Collegiate championship in women's water polo. (Division I has 22 institutions sponsoring water polo, Division II has six and Division III has 12.)

The Councils also reviewed legislation from the Division III membership, taking no position on Proposal No. 2-43: Season of Competition -- Minimum Amount of Competition; and Proposal No. 2-44: International Competition -- Summers.

The Councils supported membership Proposal No. 2-46: Two-year College Transfer -- Nonparticipation Exception, indicating that it was consistent with existing legislation for four-year transfer students.

The Councils opposed membership Proposal No. 2-54: Maximum Contest Limitations -- Student-Athlete -- Basketball, Field Hockey and Soccer, noting that it would cover only a select group of team sports that count contests. The Councils also noted that there was no limitation on the number of dates a student-athlete could participate in both junior varsity and varsity contests, leaving the practice open to abuse.

The Councils also reviewed the remaining legislative proposals for the Convention, including No. 2-53: Playing and Practice Seasons -- Competition in Nontraditional Segment; and No. 2-40: All-Star Contests, which are expected to generate a great deal of interest at the Convention.

If adopted, Proposal No. 2-53 would eliminate outside competition in the nontraditional season, except in the sports of golf and tennis per Bylaw 17.1.11.4. In other words, in golf and tennis, institutions that conduct more than 50 percent of their season in the nontraditional segment would be exempt from this legislation in those sports.

Also reviewed was Proposal No. 2-40, which would preclude student-athletes in all sports from participating in all-star contests if they had eligibility remaining.

Other parts of the legislation address involvement by institutional staff members in all-star contests and the use of institutional facilities for such contests. If the legislation passes as drafted, institutional staff members and facilities will be permitted to be involved in all-star contests with the understanding that the institution assumes all risks inherent in that involvement.

Other actions

In other issues, the Management Council and Presidents Council took the following actions:

  • The Presidents Council approved a slate of candidates from its nominations subcommittee to fill January 2000 vacancies on the Presidents Council. Those candidates were Robert H. Chambers, president of Western Maryland College, and Peter W. Stanley, president of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges. Division III chief executive officers will now receive ballots in the mail to be returned to the NCAA.

  • Both Councils reviewed and approved a Division III Values, Goals and Priorities Chart as a new component of the Division III Strategic Plan. The Presidents Council charged the Management Council and Division III committees with developing programs, including budgetary considerations where appropriate, to advance the goals and priorities of the plan.

  • Both Councils reviewed and approved a proposed Division III NCAA 2000 Convention schedule.

  • The Presidents Council discussed statistics on the Faculty Athletics Representative position provided by the Ad Hoc Committee on Gender and Ethnic Diversity. The Presidents Council expressed concern regarding the lack of ethnic diversity and gender representation in the Association's faculty athletics representatives. Diversity will be a forum discussion topic during the Division III business session at the 2000 Convention.

  • The Management Council reviewed a summary of the automatic-qualification and selection principles for the 1999-00 Division III championships. The summary identified by sport the conferences receiving automatic qualification, the number of evaluation regions and the number of berths in Pool A, Pool B and Pool C.

  • The Presidents Council declined to support a proposed financial aid survey of Division III institutions that was to have been sent out and returned by the membership prior to the Convention, citing concerns about the survey's purpose and content. The council endorsed the concept of the survey, but it sent the actual survey back to the Division III Financial Aid and Awards Committee, asking it to rewrite it the questions. The council would like the committee to review the goals of the survey and rewrite the survey so that the goals are clearly met. Financial aid also will be a formal discussion topic at the 2000 Convention.