The NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports discussed several major student-athlete welfare initiatives during its January 17-19 meeting in Indianapolis.

Included in the committee's discussion was improving the existing Injury Surveillance System (ISS), increasing student-athlete and institutional responsibility in the use and administering of dietary supplements, and funding a new initiative in alcohol-abuse prevention.

The committee identified upgrading the Association's ISS as its top priority and requested that additional Association resources be used to accomplish that goal over the next two years. The proposed enhancement looks to carry out two Association priorities: protecting student-athlete welfare and building a strong and more legally defensible foundation for sound development of the Association's health and safety policies.

The ISS enhancements would allow the system to expand the number of schools and sports sampled, with greater efficiency and statistical application, while minimizing data-input burdens on member institutions.

Specifically, upgrades would create:

Electronic transfer of data from campus to the national office and results from the national office to participants and researchers.

A database that is flexible, cost-effective and takes advantage of available technology.

A valid statistical sample and significant depth and breadth of analysis.

Membership accessibility to information on a need-to-know basis.

In determining the most appropriate enhancement mechanism, the committee reviewed several proposals from experts in public health and the NCAA's finance and information services staff. There are two options under consideration: (1) A three-year contract with an external public health consultant who would establish an enhanced system; and (2) a two-year allocation of finance and information services staff for system development, plus consultant fees. The finance and information services staff believes the project could be completed in-house at a "cost" in staff time and hardware that would be comparable or less than an outside consultant.

Both options involve creation and maintenance of a custom system that still has some unknowns related to hardware and technology until a commitment to undertake the project is achieved. The committee is recommending consideration of the second option as its top priority in the current budget cycle.

Drug testing

Regarding the use of supplements by student-athletes, the committee approved a recommendation from the Drug-Education/Drug-Testing Subcommittee to increase responsibility on the part of student-athletes and their respective institutions to be aware of and avoid using NCAA-banned substances, including those found in dietary supplements.

The subcommittee met with Elsa Kircher Cole, NCAA general counsel, to address language in the drug-testing consent form and applicable bylaws that would detail areas of accountability.

In addition, through a change in NCAA Bylaw 30.5, the subcommittee approved a recommendation to address institutional penalties for failure to provide adequate drug education to its student-athletes, including education about the potential risks involved in the ingestion of nutritional supplements that may contain NCAA-banned substances.

NCAA counsel indicated that the proposed bylaw amendment is consistent with the Association's efforts to increase institutional accountability for a school's actions or inactions.

To assist student-athletes and athletics departments in this area, the committee approved funding of a proposal from the National Center for Drug-Free Sport to develop and market a Dietary Supplement Resource Exchange Center (REC). The REC will provide student-athletes and athletics staff with a telephone hotline, an informative and updated Web site, and electronic mail account staffed by experts educated in pharmacology and nutrition to assist institutions in supplement education.

In another action to address substance use by student-athletes, the committee approved a recommendation from the Drug-Education/
Drug-Testing Subcommittee to fund a new initiative called Student-Athletes Taking Active Responsible Roles (STARR). STARR is an initiative that uses social norming, a strategy that has shown success in reducing alcohol abuse in projects funded by the U.S. Department of Education and implemented in areas of campus other than athletics.

The goal of the campaign is to correct the misconception that most student-athletes abuse alcohol. Peer pressure has been identified as a force in risky student behaviors. After being presented with positive peer pressure (for example, the majority doesn't "binge drink"), at-risk students such as incoming freshmen are less likely to binge drink.

The STARR campaign will consist of a multimedia campaign presenting collegiate student-athletes modeling and promoting low-risk alcohol-use behaviors and a resource directory providing links to resources for campus student-athlete advisory committees to use to support their own prevention activities. With funding approval, the project is targeted for implementation beginning September 2000.

Other highlights

Committee on Competitive Safeguards and
Medical Aspects of Sports

January 17-19/Indianapolis

Established a subcommittee to respond to matters of emergency care and coverage as requested by the Executive Committee in October 1999. The group was involved in Division II and III educational forum panels at the recent NCAA Convention, added an emergency template to the NCAA Web site, and will be meeting with representatives of the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) February 11. The committee has invited representatives from the three division Management Councils to be part of this effort.

Reviewed outreach activities with the American College of Sports Medicine, the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine, the NATA, the National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors, the NCAA Convention, the National Federation of State High School Associations, the Indianapolis community and the NCAA Hall of Champions.

Reviewed the summary judgment associated with one of the 1997 wrestling fatalities and its potential ramifications to the committee, sports committees and the Association. Since the lawsuit is still in progress, the final impact is not known. The committee plans to keep communication open with legal counsel and to be attentive to the progress of this lawsuit.

Sports sciences safety

The NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports took the following actions as a result of the discussions of its sports sciences safety subcommittee:

Recommended that further body composition research be conducted at 1999-00 Division I Wrestling Championships.

Recommended the following areas receive sports science research funding for 2000-01 fiscal year: catastrophic injury, specific physiological effects of creatine use, injury surveillance and wrestling.

Recommended that nutrition and eating-disorders education and physical transition from college athletics to nonathletic profession be an emphasis of CHAMPS/Life Skills program and made available to other schools

Discussed slight modifications of some guidelines for the next edition of the NCAA Sports Medicine Handbook.

Reviewed and endorsed the football injury survey that would target student-athletes, medical personnel and coaches.

Discussed requiring women's lacrosse players to wear eye protection.

Discussed how to address the high injury rate in women's gymnastics.

Reviewed, but did not endorse, the NCAA Wrestling Committee's recommendations to reinstate saunas for non-weight-loss purposes, modify specific gravity cut-off and make room for some in-season allowance in weight classes.

Recommended that there be a national Student-Athlete Advisory Committee emphasis of peer acceptance of wearing appropriate safety equipment, including mouthguards, and a discussion on the issue of repetitive head trauma and neurological damage in soccer.

Recommended that a request to modify treatment of selected wrestling skin infections be forwarded to a group of dermatology/infectious diseases experts for consideration.

Supported the concept of a national conference aimed at building acceptance of weight certification programs in secondary schools.

Considered and opposed a request to ban tattoos, but recommended that the issues be discussed in the Sports Sciences Education Newsletter, the Sports Medicine Handbook and in CHAMPS/Life Skills.

Drug testing/drug education

The NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports took the following actions as a result of the discussions of its Drug-Education/Drug-Testing Subcommittee:

Approved a motion to change language regarding 18.4.1.5.1 to clarify the loss of eligibility and loss of competition in any sport, NCAA or otherwise, following a positive drug test.

Clarified the NCAA's position on the use of certain supplements and drafted the following statement to be submitted to the Management Council regarding Proposal No. 99-72:

"An institution may only provide non-ergogenic nutritional supplements to a student-athlete at any time for the purpose of providing additional calories and electrolytic fluids, provided they do not contain any NCAA-banned substances."

Also developed the following classes of permissible supplements for reference: carbohydrate/electrolytic drinks, energy bars, carbohydrate boosters, and vitamins and minerals.

Recommended that the Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drugs Guidelines be referenced in the Division I Certification Self-Study Guide under Operating Principle 4.3 and included as an independent guideline in future editions of the Sports Medicine Handbook.