The Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports has approved recommendations from the NCAA Men's and Women's Track and Field Committee regarding pole vault safety, including pit modifications and the elimination of "tapping," or assisting the competitor at takeoff.

The competitive-safeguards committee took the actions during its June 21-23 meeting in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

The group also recommended that the Division II Health and Safety Conference Grants provide more education and training for coaches, along with conference-wide meetings for medical personnel and athletic trainers and conference-wide CPR training. The committee also wants the grants to be used to educate all athletics administrators about nutrition and performance, and performance-enhancing substance use. Technology upgrades for conferences also were labeled as a priority in order for conferences to access the Web-based Injury Surveillance System (ISS).

In response to discussions in all three divisions about out-of-season conditioning and preseason practice, the competitive-safeguards committee developed information on acclimatization, resources and recovery needs. This committee stressed that this information should be the health and safety foundation for any discussions on out-of-season training and preseason practice in all sports across all divisions.

The committee also addressed a request from the Division III Management Council to provide health and safety direction on playing and practice seasons. The committee agreed that 20 preseason practice opportunities seemed appropriate for most sports but that football offers unique challenges that might warrant extra days due to the acclimatization demands of the equipment.

Safety issues

The competitive-safeguards committee's sports sciences safety subcommittee reviewed the ISS enhancement process during the June meeting as well. With the introduction of the ISS report forms online, the subcommittee reviewed the August 2002 phase I pilot program and confidentiality issues, as well as further development goals. The subcommittee also developed additional specifications for the NCAA information technology staff in order to create a more efficient process.

In other actions, the subcommittee endorsed a recommendation in wrestling to increase the antiviral treatment for herpes skin infections from three to five days. The subcommittee also reviewed new technology for assessing body composition and its possible application to the NCAA wrestling weight certification program. The subcommittee agreed that while the scientific advances were promising, it would wait to see results of a peer review of the research before making any final decisions.

The subcommittee also reviewed the cut-off value for specific gravity as a marker for hydration and agreed that the current value is appropriate based on the current science.

Finally, the group recommended that the following research initiatives be funded for 2001-02:

Medical College of Georgia, sickle cell trait study.

The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, catastrophic injury study.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, soccer anterior-cruciate ligament (ACL) prevention study.

Wrestling body composition studies at NCAA wrestling championships.

Distribution of an ACL prevention book to head athletic trainers at all NCAA institutions.

A football recovery study, monitoring student-athletes during double sessions to identify possible recovery issues.

Topics recommended for funding consideration for the 2002-03 fiscal year included:

Updating the emergency care and coverage survey.

Wrestling weight loss at national championships.

Nutrition and performance.

Injury Surveillance System enhancement.

Recovery studies.

Drug education, testing

The drug-education and drug-testing subcommittee worked with two prominent guests during its meeting to discuss issues related to sports doping. Tom Murray, president of The Hastings Center for Bioethical Research, assisted the group in creating an ethical framework model to make important drug-testing policy decisions. Terry Madden, chief executive officer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, worked with the subcommittee on forming a partnership to deter sport doping nationwide. The subcommittee discussed issues for the NCAA to consider, including the acceptance of outside sports governing bodies' drug-test sanctions.

The subcommittee reviewed and accepted the report from The National Center for Drug Free Sport. The Center is prepared to begin implementing ephedrine testing in August 2002 during year-round drug testing. The subcommittee recommended that drug testing be expanded in baseball, citing data from the 2001 NCAA study of student-athlete substance use and the recent reports of steroid use in Major League Baseball.

The final 2001 drug-education and drug-testing survey results also were reported. The subcommittee will highlight findings from this study, including a concern about institutions that do not provide student-athletes with the banned-drug list and an article regarding policies with alcohol and recruits.

Other drug-testing recommendations included maintaining the current penalties for a positive drug test, providing new recruits with the banned-substance list, and not drug testing student-athletes during the summer, but to focus efforts on increased testing for more sports.

Other highlights

Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports
June 21-23/Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Identified Automatic External Defibrillators (AED) as a priority for further review and comment as part of its outreach discussion.

Recommended requiring institutions to submit annually the name and contact information of their director of sports medicine, or equivalent, to the NCAA by July 15.

Recommended creating an at-large position on the committee to provide more opportunity for the membership to serve as committee members.

Appointed an ad hoc committee of Amy Barr, Arnold Mazur and Melinda Millard-Stafford to review the recommendation from staff on revising the health and safety Web site.

In addition to actions taken by the competitive-safeguards committee, the sports science safety subcommittee took the following actions:

Reviewed and modified the position statement on women's lacrosse eye protection.

Reviewed and updated relevant portions of the competitive-safeguards committee's strategic plan.

Reviewed and updated various guidelines for the NCAA Sports Medicine Handbook.

Reviewed the issue of mandatory basketball backboard lamination, including a retrospective review of frequency of backboard breakage. The subcommittee reiterated its belief that lamination may be a good idea, but the lack of injury data does not justify a mandate.

In addition to actions taken by the competitive-safeguards committee, the drug-education and drug-testing subcommittee took the following actions:

Reviewed a brochure developed by George Mason University on alcohol and athletics performance and approved the brochure to be included on the Web site and distributed to athletic trainers.

Made minor adjustments to the drug-testing consent forms and the student-athlete statement.