The NCAA subcommittee that decides drug-test appeals could gain flexibility to assess less than the one-year penalty currently mandated by legislation for a positive test, under a recommendation by the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (CSMAS).

The committee, which met January 15-16 in Indianapolis, recommended that Bylaw 18.4.1.5.1 be amended to permit its drug-test appeals subcommittee to reduce the penalty from one calendar year to half of a season of competition in all sports in which a student-athlete competes, in cases where it is demonstrated the student-athlete was not at "significant fault" in testing positive for a banned substance.

The recommendation will be forwarded to the Association's governance structure for consideration.

Current legislation requires that a student-athlete who tests positive must miss at least one year of competition. The subcommittee must choose in deciding appeals either to uphold the one-year penalty or fully negate the positive test and sanction. As a result, the subcommittee sometimes must uphold the full penalty in cases where a student-athlete was not significantly at fault for use of a banned substance.

The proposed amendment would enable the subcommittee to consider the reduced penalty in such cases. That reduced penalty would apply to the 50 percent of a season of competition that immediately follows the positive test, including championship play scheduled within that period, consistent with the application of sanctions for other NCAA violations.

The amendment would further align the NCAA with national and international doping control authorities, which regard the presence of a banned substance in a drug-test sample as a doping offense, but have the option of assessing reduced penalties for mitigating circumstances.

The CSMAS proposal specifically would adopt a "significant fault" standard similar to that recommended in such cases by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). In general, the standard would be applicable in cases where a student-athlete cannot be held responsible to a significant degree for use of the banned substance.

The NCAA drug-test subcommittee would continue to evaluate appeals on a case-by-case basis and would establish application of the standard through precedent.

CSMAS recommended that the amendment become effective August 1, 2005, and that reduced penalties be applied only for drug tests conducted on or after the effective date.

International suspensions

In another action that seeks to align the NCAA more closely with national and international anti-doping efforts, the committee also is recommending that athletes serving an international or national suspension from competition due to drug testing be prohibited from participating in NCAA competition, beginning in August 2005.

The proposal would result in the first acceptance by the Association of findings of doping violations and sanctions by other athletics governing bodies, provided that those organizations have adopted and fully implemented WADA standards.

Under that proposal, an athlete serving such a suspension would not be permitted to compete in any intercollegiate sport at an NCAA member institution or participate in any NCAA championships competition while the suspension is in effect.

The Association currently requires any athlete serving such a suspension to submit to drug testing before participation in a sport at a member institution, but has not prevented such athletes' participation in NCAA competition because of concerns about variations in drug-testing protocol and application of penalties around the world.

The committee, however, believes that the increasingly widespread adoption of WADA standards is creating a "harmonization" of protocol and penalties that supports NCAA recognition of other athletics governing bodies' findings and sanctions.

CSMAS also is recommending an exception to the proposed rule, applicable to cases in which a suspension is imposed after a positive test involving a substance for which the NCAA permits a medical-exception review. In such cases, a student-athlete would be permitted to request a review of the violation by CSMAS' medical panel, which could result in a waiver to participate in NCAA competition.

An athlete would be permitted to begin or resume NCAA competition after demonstrating that a national or international suspension has been lifted.

CSMAS also acted on several other matters involving drug testing and education, as reported elsewhere on this page.

Sport-specific issues

The committee also addressed several additional matters involving student-athlete health and safety, including issues in emerging sports, softball and lacrosse.

Committee members agreed they would seek to establish collaboration with the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics (CWA) to help inform the membership of unique health and safety issues upon approval of new emerging sports.

An emerging sport is a sport recognized by the NCAA that is intended to provide additional athletics opportunities to female student-athletes. The CWA reviews proposals for emerging sports and determines if the sport meets the established criteria.

CSMAS noted that every NCAA institution has a responsibility to protect the health of -- and provide a safe environment for -- all student-athletes, including those participating in emerging sports. The committee is urging that such sports be provided health care and medical coverage consistent with that provided for other sports, and also recommended that institutions review medical-care policies for emerging-sports teams traveling to compete in club-sponsored events.

CSMAS also reviewed the status of past recommendations and actions, including a decision to support softball bat research as proposed by the NCAA Softball Rules Committee. In addition, the committee agreed to recommend exploring options for random testing of bats at NCAA softball championships, to ensure adherence to specifications for bats outlined in NCAA softball rules. CSMAS recommended testing in a manner similar to the procedure currently employed at baseball championships.

In lacrosse, the committee responded to a request from the Division I Championships/
Competition Cabinet to explore the option of adding hard helmets to the list of permissible equipment in the sport. CSMAS determined that action at this time would be only speculative, but will continue to collaborate with US Lacrosse in tracking trends and causes of injury and to use data as they become available to consider equipment recommendations. The committee also noted that US Lacrosse is addressing officiating nationally in an effort to reduce the risk of injury in the sport.

Other committee actions involving sport-specific issues are reported elsewhere on this page, and further information about programs and resources supervised by CSMAS can be obtained via the Internet at www.
ncaa.org/health-safety.

Other highlights

Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports
January 15-16/Indianapolis

Expressed appreciation for NCAA member institutions' participation in three surveys during the past year, on the topics of drug education and testing, the NCAA Sports Medicine Handbook, and eating disorder prevention. After review by CSMAS' sports sciences safety subcommittee of comments received in the handbook survey and a discussion of recent trends in athletics health care, the committee recommended a membership survey to evaluate the current athletics health care environment in intercollegiate athletics. The survey would seek health care demographics and data regarding emergency care coverage and staff workload practices. The committee also recommended that the Association conduct its next student-athlete drug-use survey beginning in September 2004, and include a new question to detect usage of THG (tetrahydrogestrinone), a controlled steroid.

Reviewed its reporting lines within the Association's governance structure and the impact of the new one-year legislative cycle on its process of reporting student-athlete health and safety recommendations to the Division I Cabinet/Council structure, and considered adjustments intended to achieve more effective and timely reporting.

In other actions involving drug education and drug testing:

Reviewed the proposed U.S. Food and Drug Administration ban of dietary supplements containing ephedra and noted that the action will dramatically assist the NCAA in enforcing its own ban of the substance. The committee also expressed continuing support for pending legislation in Congress to classify steroid precursors as controlled substances (as reported in the January 5 issue of The NCAA News), and noted that passage would effectively address confusion among NCAA student-athletes created by availability of banned substances in nutritional supplements that are sold legally and over the counter.

Recommended listing THG, trenbolone and gestrinone as named steroids on the list of NCAA banned substances.

Recommended changes in the drug-testing protocol to specify that any breach of protocol by a student-athlete listed in paragraph 3.3 (including failure to appear at the collection station) will be treated as if there were a positive test for a banned substance other than street drugs, and can result in a lifetime loss of eligibility if the breach becomes one of two positive tests for non-street drugs.

Declined to consider medical use of testosterone for inclusion in the list of substances eligible for review in the committee's medical exception process.

Accepted a plan for drug testing at the inaugural National Collegiate Women's Bowling Championships.

Agreed to review the upcoming student-athlete drug-use survey to determine whether there is a need to recommend year-round drug testing in Division III.

In other actions involving student-athlete health and safety:

Approved a new guideline on catastrophic incidence (crisis management) for the next edition of the Sports Medicine Handbook. Members of the CSMAS sports sciences safety subcommittee will review and update existing guidelines for the new edition.

Agreed to support the National Athletic Trainers' Association in its initiative to promote compliance with Sports Medicine Handbook Guideline 1F, which recommends that "all athletics personnel associated with practices, competitions, skill instruction, and strength and conditioning" hold CPR certification.

Noted a significant increase in requests for exceptions from the rule requiring transparent eye shields in football, and agreed to seek support from the NCAA Football Rules Committee and the American Football Coaches Association in deterring unwarranted requests. The sports sciences safety subcommittee will explore options that would permit student-athletes with medical conditions requiring a shaded lens to participate in football.

Reviewed results of previously funded research pertaining to the football conditioning model and wrestling weight-assessment techniques, and noted that the football data will be presented in May during the annual American College of Sports Medicine meeting.