A proposal to bring automatic qualification to the Division III tennis championships has drawn both praise and criticism from officials in the tennis community who would be affected by the new regulations.

While some say the change is a positive one that would allow more teams to take part in the championships, others say automatic qualification could result in some outstanding teams being left out of the tournament because they are in competitive conferences.

"By enhancing the championships and providing greater opportunity for more teams, schools will in turn enhance their programs," said John Shackelford, chair of the Division III Men's and Women's Tennis Committee and head men's coach at the University of the South. "It is possible that there will be more full-time tennis coaches hired, more recruiting and more funds given to those tennis programs because they have more access to a championship."

Shackelford said many programs have the potential to become stronger and that in the long run the move will be positive for Division III tennis.

But he also acknowledged that it may not be an easy transition for some in the tennis community.

"In the short term, there are going to be some growing pains," he said. "There are going to be some teams left out that feel like they are deserving. We have to balance the opportunity to increase the size of the championship and allow more student-athletes the chance to compete with the realization that we will not field a tournament representative of the best 40 teams."

Time was right

Tentatively, the plan is for the number of teams in the men's championship to increase from 27 to 40, and from 26 to 47 on the women's side.

In both cases, there will be three pools of teams, with "Pool A" consisting of conference champions from those conferences eligible for automatic qualification. Most teams will come from this pool. Other teams will come from independents, members of nonqualifying conferences and teams that did not win their conference championship.

For the men and women, the number of student-athletes participating in singles and doubles events -- 32 individuals for singles and 16 teams for doubles -- would remain the same.

The Divisions I and II tennis championships already use automatic qualification.

The proposal to use automatic qualification was made by the Empire 8 at the NCAA Convention in January but was later withdrawn due to the Division III Management and Presidents Councils' commitment to address the automatic-qualification process for tennis, golf and cross country later this year. The Division III Championships Committee has reviewed the issue with recommendations from the affected sports committees and is making a recommendation to the Management and Presidents Councils for sponsorship of legislation to establish automatic qualification for tennis effective in 2006-07.

"We just felt there wasn't equitable access to the championships," Empire 8 Commissioner Chuck Mitrano said of his conference's decision to sponsor the legislation. "In our particular situation, we have eight members within our conference, and in the entire existence of these members, not a single team has gone to the NCAA championships. I think in the philosophy of inclusion and equity it seemed as though it was the right time for our division to consider that opportunity.

"To me, Division III is largely about the quality of the student-athlete experience, and certainly we have the ability to make a greater impact on that experience through this type of legislation."

Some think idea is wrong

But not everyone sees this proposal as a positive step for Division III tennis.

"I'm very against it," Jon Carlson, head women's tennis coach at Gustavus Adolphus College, said about the changes proposed for the women's championship. "One of the biggest problems is that many of the conferences play their traditional season and conference tournament in the fall. So my biggest gripe is that there could be a conference champion that wins their conference in the middle of October, doesn't have to play a single match in the spring, could have three kids studying abroad or doing internships in the spring, and still end up in the national tournament, which would be a farce in my opinion."

Carlson noted that his team has been crowned conference champion consistently since 1991, so it wouldn't affect his student-athletes.

He suggested that if officials want to increase opportunities, they should do so on the individual side of the championships and leave the team portion alone.

"Sixteen doubles teams are invited to the national tournament. There's got to be more than 16," he said. "If there's anybody that's being left out, it's good individuals, not good teams."

Carlson also expressed a concern that some of the strongest teams will be left out of the tournament.

"Right at this moment, we have great regional representation, which is in line with the Division III philosophy, as well as having virtually every year the top teams invited to the championship," he said. "When you take away that element, where the top teams are not allowed to compete in the national championship, then it becomes less of what it should be."

However, others say inclusion of conferences is part of the excitement of an NCAA championship -- one of the most visible examples of this being the recent basketball championships.

In any sport, at any division, it's possible a strong team will be left out, said Ira Miller, head men's and women's coach at Drew University. "But if you weigh that against the fact that it's going to create greater participation," he said, "that far outweighs the fact that there are going to be a handful of good schools that may be better than some conference champions but that aren't going to go.

"You've got to spread it around."