National Collegiate Athletic Association
NCAA News Archive - 2003
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Marist College
As the summer months wind down, athletics administrators are gearing up for the coming season. Continuing and initial eligibility, housing, scholarships and academic programs are foremost on our minds. However, we must not ignore or curtail the momentum and progress we have made on the issues of sportsmanship and fan behavior.
Last year, we experienced too many fans who were disruptive and destructive. We saw too many coaches criticize officials and their calls -- even assault fans and destroy opposing schools' property. And we continued to see the postgame celebratory riots at big-time events.
A summit on sportsmanship and fan behavior in Dallas in February addressed some of those issues and initiated discussions as to how colleges and universities can better educate and prepare their fans, staff and other constituents. Also, a forum in June with three prominent guest speakers -- Bonnie Bernstein, a reporter for CBS Sports; Andy Geiger, athletics director at Ohio State University; and Steve Wieberg, college sports reporter for USA Today -- took place at the NACDA convention as a follow-up to the February summit. Of special note was the fact that this forum included many Divisions I-AA, I-AAA, II and III administrators who were not included in the Dallas summit.
Both gatherings were opportunities for the primary leaders in the college athletics community to address sportsmanship issues head-on. The summit report, to be distributed to member institutions for the 2003-04 academic year, is expected to include "best practices" for colleges and universities on these issues. However, due to the overwhelming presence of Division I-A representatives at the summit, those best practices may cater more toward the large Division I-A institutions.
But sportsmanship is an Association-wide issue. We must remain vigilant with efforts in this regard that will help everyone from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, to York College (Pennsylvania).
For instance, I was glad to read that the Mid-American Conference opened its football meetings with a session on sportsmanship that included athletics directors, coaches, administrators and student-athletes. The Empire 8, a Division III conference, has received an initiatives grant for the 2003-04 academic year that will have all Division III conferences track conduct fouls in 17 sports. A main goal of the program is to raise awareness concerning student-athlete and coach conduct among Division III conferences -- with a long-term goal of adopting the tracking system on an Association-wide basis. In addition, NCAA President Myles Brand has appointed a working group at the national office to study sportsmanship issues. That group has since made recommendations related to legislation, institutional self-studies and playing rules that were accepted in July by the NCAA Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct. The Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee also supported a recommendation that would apply misconduct regulations currently in place for NCAA championships competition to regular-season competition as well.
As the departing chair of the sportsmanship and ethical conduct committee, I hope that the efforts from the summit, the NCAA working group and other organizations such as the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance will bring forth ideas, suggestions and solutions that all NCAA members will find helpful.
These efforts strike at the core of amateur athletics and the role it plays in developing our student-athletes into graduates of which our institutions can be proud.
Let's not fumble on our first possession of the year.
Chandra Bierwirth, an associate director of athletics and the senior woman administrator at Marist College, is the outgoing chair of the NCAA Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct.
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