Faced with more budget-impact requests than resources to fund them, the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet developed a list of priorities for the Management Council and Board of Directors to consider for the 2000-01 budget cycle.

The cabinet, meeting February 1-3 in Indianapolis, considered requests totaling more than $2 million, most of which involved bracket expansion, increases in squad sizes in women's sports, higher officiating fees, and transportation or per-diem allocations. The requests far outweighed the NCAA Executive Committee's allocation of $1 million for new championships initiatives in 2000-01, which forced the cabinet to rank the requests in priority order.

In formulating its list, the cabinet noted that several significant budget items were mandated by the governance structure and therefore were not discretionary. For example, the cabinet believes that the addition of National Collegiate Championships in women's water polo and ice hockey (four-team brackets, respectively) should not be counted against the $1 million allocated for new championships initiatives. The combined estimated expense for both championships is about $300,000.

The cabinet also suggested that expenses required to fund transportation expenses for the opening-round game in the 2001 Division I Men's Basketball Championship (as well as in subsequent years in which there are more than 30 conferences eligible for automatic qualification) be considered a nondiscretionary item.

New initiatives

High on the cabinet's list of supported initiatives were bracket and field-size expansions in women's golf (adding a third regional and 69 participants), men's soccer (from 32 to 48 teams), women's lacrosse (from 12 to 16 teams), men's ice hockey (from 12 to 16 teams) and men's lacrosse (from 12 to 16 teams). The total cost of those expansions is a little more than $600,000.

The cabinet also favored squad-size increases in five women's championships (from 12 to 15 in volleyball, 20 to 22 in field hockey, 13 to 15 in gymnastics, 18 to 22 in soccer and 18 to 20 in softball) as a high priority. Though totaling about $270,000, the increases would provide approximately 580 additional championship opportunities for female student-athletes.

Though seemingly a fit within the $1 million parameter, the recommendations do not guarantee approval at the Council or Board level. The cabinet's priority order or method of calculating costs may not be adopted by these groups or the Division I Budget Subcommittee. For example, three of the recommended bracket expansions are in men's sports, and some groups within the governance structure have advocated not expanding men's brackets until women's championships opportunities are at an equivalent level with existing men's opportunities.

The cabinet reaffirmed its support for expanding the men's soccer bracket, however, after the cabinet and Council included it as a high priority last spring. Expansion in men's soccer, as well as in women's golf, were not approved during last year's budget cycle due to a lack of championships funding, but the Management Council asked the cabinet to put those requests at the top of its list for 2000-01.

Beyond requests for bracket and squad-size expansion, other priority items on the cabinet's list include an additional day of competition in the men's and women's tennis championships and in the men's and women's swimming zone diving meets, and an increase in the number of championships awards, which would amount to about $295,000.

The cabinet also supported a request from the Division I Women's Basketball Committee to establish predetermined sites for first- and second-round games, depending on the availability of funds. The $450,000 request, however, was not ranked above bracket or squad-size expansion in the cabinet's list of priorities.

Association-wide requests

The cabinet also forwarded various other budget requests that are Association-wide expenses, including the establishment of a women's volleyball rules committee, the establishment of a women's volleyball officiating-improvement program and expansion of the competitive-safeguards committee's injury surveillance system.

Among other significant expenses the cabinet considered were requests for increases in officiating fees and/or expenses in several sports. In view of the limited resources and the number of priorities already approved, however, the cabinet determined that no increases in officiating fees would be approved at this time. The cabinet did suggest that conferences be surveyed to determine their fee structures for regular-season and conference championships to help the cabinet address the officiating needs of various championships in future budget cycles.

In another budget-related matter, the cabinet approved the concept of a regional qualifying system for the men's and women's outdoor track and field championships that would increase the number of participants in the championships from 388 men and 388 women to 544 each. The proposal, however, would not become effective until the 2002 championship and therefore does not have any impact on the budget requests for 2000-01.

In another action, the cabinet recommended that the Council propose legislation to exempt from the minimum sponsorship requirements emerging sports that would create additional opportunities for minority female student-athletes.

Other highlights

Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet
February 1-3/Indianapolis