Coach parlays athletics mettle into being lone 'Survivor'

It's often said that being a student-athlete imparts many skills that are useful later in life. Ethan Zohn ought to know.

A former soccer and lacrosse student-athlete at Vassar College, Zohn was the million-dollar sole survivor recently in CBS's "Survivor Africa."

Zohn also is assistant men's and women's soccer coach at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck, where he has been assisting the men's team since 1998 and the women's team since its inception in 2000.

To win the $1 million, Zohn spent 39 days stranded in the Shaba National Reserve in Kenya. The 16 contestants, divided into two tribes, were required to join together, forge alliances and take part in physical and mental "challenges" to earn rewards and also temporary immunity to avoid being voted off the reserve.

Zohn was one of the final two, along with retired school teacher Kim Johnson. Seven contestants who previously had been voted off composed the jury, which ultimately selected Zohn.

Zohn graduated from Vassar in 1996 with a biology degree. During his four years on the Brewers' men's soccer team, he appeared in 63 games, stopping 340 shots on goal and holding opponents to 73 goals. He also recorded 20 shutouts.

He also has played professional soccer for a number of teams.

At Fairleigh Dickinson, Zohn has helped the men's team to back-to-back conference regular-season and tournament titles, as well as the program's first trip to the NCAA tournament.

"Unbelievable," said Knights head women's soccer coach Pete Gaglioti after he watched the final episode of the show.

"We work with a millionaire. We're very happy for him. It's a great accomplishment and something we all knew he could pull off."

New tool available for rules compliance

A Kansas-based company is offering a new computer application to assist athletics administrators in complying with NCAA rules.

Known as the "Compliance Toolbox," this Web-based application recently was released by BS&K Collegiate Sports Services, a business affiliate of Bond Schoeneck & King, a law firm with a division that specializes in collegiate sports matters.

"The Compliance Toolbox is a truly innovative approach to administering NCAA rules and regulations," said Michael S. Glazier, chair of the law firm's Collegiate Sports Practice Group.

"It centralizes information in an application specifically designed to manage the records of an athletics department. It also eliminates the need for other database software and reduces the number of employee hours spent on compliance recordkeeping."

The toolbox is customized for each institution, and the application contains a collection of compliance-related procedures, including NCAA-required forms. It can produce a variety of reports, permitting compliance-related data to be viewed on a sport-by-sport basis.

Celebrating 20 years of championships

Future visitors to the NCAA Hall of Champions in Indianapolis will find a new display commemorating 20 years of NCAA women's championships.

At the recent NCAA Honors Dinner, Bob Lawless, chair of the NCAA Executive Committee and president of the University of Tulsa, presented the Association with a plaque commemorating the milestone.

Judy Sweet, NCAA vice-president and the national office senior woman administrator, accepted the plaque on behalf of the Association.

"Twenty years is certainly a milestone for women's championships," Sweet said. "We've come so far and touched the lives of so many young women. Dreams for many have become reality, and it is with eager anticipation that we can look forward to the new opportunities and accomplishments we might be celebrating during our golden anniversary."

The new display also will include a plaque presented a decade ago that commemorates 10 years of women's championships.

And, Sweet has added something of her own to the Hall -- a pristine-condition 1981 T-shirt from one of the first NCAA women's championships, the Division III Women's Volleyball Championship conducted at Maryville College (Tennessee).

-- Compiled by Kay Hawes

Number crunching

Looking back

Pigskin and gridiron

And after more than a century of gridiron success entrenched in the ground game, the recently completed 2001 season featured a record-setting air show.

What major rules changes will the Football Rules Committee introduce this year?

Here are some of the more prominent changes from the past:

1880 -- Teams are set at 11 per side, and a line of scrimmage is established.

1894 -- Players who wear projecting nails or iron plates on their shoes are not allowed to play.

1906 -- The forward pass is permitted.

1911 -- It is deemed illegal to hide the ball beneath a player's clothing.

1912 -- The field becomes standardized at 120 yards long, with two 10-yard end zones. Also, a touchdown becomes worth six points instead of five.

1915 -- Numbers are added to jerseys.

1927 -- The goal posts are moved to the end line.

* 1932 -- Far-reaching changes in safety rules are introduced, including assessment of a penalty for a flying block or flying tackle; elimination of the ability to strike an opponent's head, neck or face; and mandatory covering for hard and dangerous equipment.

1941 -- A white ball may be used for night games.

1951 -- The fair catch is restored.

1958 -- The two-point conversion is added.

1978 -- The ball is returned to the previous spot after an unsuccessful field goal.

1986 -- The kickoff is moved to the 35-yard line.

1991 -- The width of the goal posts is reduced to 18 feet, six inches.

1992 -- The defense is allowed to return fumbles regardless of where they occur.

1993 -- The "fumblerooskie" play is deemed illegal. Also, the hash marks are moved six feet, eight inches closer to the center of the field.

1996 -- The tiebreaker system is introduced.