Officials at collegiate track and field meets are asked to recognize rules violations during competition that often occur faster than the blink of an eye. They're also asked to be aware of implements that may be flying near them and otherwise maintain order in venues where the number of competitors, coaches and support staff are in the hundreds.

On top of that, they have to make sure teams comply with other rules, such as those regarding uniforms and meet scoring, all the while being in the precarious position of not wanting to offend coaches from institutions where they regularly work meets and from schools where they may want to officiate in the future. (In track and field, individual institutions usually are responsible for securing officials for their home events.)

Consequently, the NCAA Men's and Women's Track and Field Committee is concerned over reports it has received about the games committees of various meets overstepping their responsibilities and infringing on those of officials.

"The rules do give games committees plenty of responsibilities, and rightfully so," said Margaret Simmons, assistant athletics director at Murray State University and secretary-rules editor of the track and field committee. "Members of games committees usually are persons closely involved with the sport who know how to properly conduct a meet. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, they sometimes make decisions on matters over which they have no jurisdiction."

Distinction of duties

For most regular-season meets, the games committees usually are composed of coaches from the competing institutions. In the 2002 edition of the NCAA rules book, such groups are charged with providing "specialized assistance and guidance to the meet director" on as many as 24 duties. Those range from approving the meet's time schedule and determining the number of competitors each institution is allowed in each event to setting the starting heights in the jumps and pole vault.

Not among the list of 24 items is anything related to competitor uniforms. The task of enforcing uniform, relay uniform, number, shoe and logo rules is given to the referee. Competitors are to wear an official uniform, which should consist of school-issued shorts or briefs, and singlets (jerseys). This rule enables institutions to have different uniforms in case they cannot afford to replace their entire inventory at the same time.

However, in order to assist officials and spectators with team identification during relays, the uniform rules for those races are more stringent. All members of a relay team must wear identical singlets. The pants, shorts or briefs may be of varying length but must be of identical color or colors.

This is one matter on which games committees sometimes overstep their authority. Simmons recently attended a meet in which each of the four relay team members were wearing different uniforms. She noted the violation along with the starter assigned to the race.

As specified by the rules, the starter reported the incident to the referee, who said the games committee told him not to enforce that rule that weekend.

Simmons said that is not an uncommon occurrence. "For whatever reason," she said, "coaches and administrators who serve on games committees do not seem to appreciate the importance of following all rules."

Exceptions to the rules

Certainly not all instances of events being contested outside of the rules are intentional. In 1996, an alternate method of scoring meets was introduced into the rules. Three years later, the alternate method became the only accepted way of scoring.

The adjustment went unnoticed by the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) until Troy Engle, head men's and women's track and field coach at SCIAC member Occidental College, was alerted to it in August 2001 during his first monthly conference call after being appointed to the NCAA track and field rules subcommittee.

"The conference coaches all thought it was still just an alternate method of scoring," Engle said. "It certainly was not a deliberate attempt to circumvent the rules."

What chances are games committees taking when they choose to tell officials to ignore rules? It is possible that the officials will not succumb to whatever pressure the committee may exert and warn or disqualify competitors for violations they were asked to disregard.

Another possibility is that any times, jumps and throws by athletes that would qualify them for the NCAA championships that were achieved at meets where there was a question on rules compliance could be challenged. This would require the track and field committee's divisional subcommittees, which supervise the championships, to determine if the qualifying performances would stand.

"Personally, I believe everyone should follow the rules," said Bill Taraschke, head men's and women's track and field coach at Baldwin-Wallace College and chair of the Division III subcommittee. "In terms of uniform rule violations, the reality is that most instances are the result of coaches making last-minute changes to relay teams, et cetera. I would be hard pressed to uphold any challenges in most of those cases."

Simmons recognizes that extenuating circumstances that result in rule violations will occur from time to time, but she uses comparisons with other sports to emphasize the importance of upholding them to the fullest degree possible.

"Touchdowns are worth six points in every football game, without question," Simmons said. "In basketball, the home team wears light game jerseys and the visiting team wears dark ones, and very seldom are a team's uniforms not alike."

The rules subcommittee has discussed ways to make games committees more aware of those aspects of a meet they can and cannot adjust. "At the very least, this will be a point of emphasis in the 2003 rules book," said Simmons. "We may identify other methods of communicating this message during our annual meeting in June."