The Committee on Women's Athletics (CWA) last month discussed topics ranging from establishing a Web site specifically for senior woman administrators to addressing institutions' use of male practice players on female squads.

The committee met in New York City in conjunction with the National Association for Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators Fall Forum.

Committee Chair Darlene Bailey, associate director of athletics at Southwest Missouri State University, said the use of male practice players for female athletics teams is most common on women's basketball squads, though other sports are beginning to follow the trend. Those "practice players" must be declared eligible to participate by NCAA standards.

"We feel it's important to investigate the issue in terms of whether it is counterproductive to opportunities for women," Bailey said. "Women practice to be part of the team, and if you have a team with a number of basketball players and the women are standing on the sidelines watching men practice against the starters, it might discourage them."

Andrew Baldwin, a former tennis student-athlete from Nazareth College who serves on the CWA, agreed that taking away opportunities from female athletes was troubling, even if it may result in more wins for the team.

"The focus should be on providing opportunity, in this case, opportunity for female athletes, not on taking whatever actions necessary to win games," Baldwin said. "This practice does not send the right message to student-athletes."

Vice-Chair Janet Kittell, associate director of athletics at Syracuse University, said the committee heard anecdotal evidence that in some cases male players were awarded scholarships to serve as competitors for female athletes during practices.

"That begs for real investigation and a future discussion," she said.

Already, Kittell said, male athletes outnumber female athletes, and allowing male practice players is only widening the gap.

Instead of relying on anecdotal evidence and speculation, Bailey said the committee will research how many institutions are using male practice players and in what sports.

Diversity initiatives

While the issue of male practice players is cause for concern, committee members are excited about a number of diversity issues, including the successful Women Coaches Academy, a pilot program that only recently became a part of the NCAA's stable of permanent educational programs.

The committee also supports the fledgling Office for Diversity and Inclusion, a newly formed NCAA division designed to promote the inclusion of minorities and women in collegiate athletics. With stagnant or even shrinking numbers in some categories of athletics and athletics administration, Bailey said the creation of the office is a great first step toward increasing those figures.

CWA members also expressed strong support for efforts by the National Federation of State High School Associations to attract and train minority female coaches at the high-school level. The program, offered free of charge, seeks to train 200 minority women who are new to coaching and will assist coaches who complete the program in finding employment.

"Efforts that are out there right now to try to get more women in coaching, specifically minority women, are greatly needed," Bailey said. "It is difficult for us at the college level to find experienced coaches. This grass-roots effort provides a great training ground."

SWA policies online

In other business, the committee decided to offer its Achieving Gender Equity manual online only, not only to save on printing and distribution costs but to allow for easier and quicker updating. The manual had been published every two years. Kittell said offering the manual online also will allow different sections and pieces of information to be highlighted at different times of the year. The manual also can be better tailored to specific requests as well, according to Bailey.

The Web site designed for senior woman administrators is in its infancy, Bailey said, but will apply to women who hold that position in all three divisions.

The site also will provide resources for SWAs about issues that the administrators might encounter in their positions, and will tie SWAs together with others in the profession. The site, she said, will be linked with the CWA and NCAA sites.

Baldwin, now a graduate student in physical therapy at Nazareth, said the success of the site depends on how aware administrators, coaches, student-athletes and SWAs are of its existence.

"It is especially important as administrators become more active in promoting their SWA as not only a female coach/athletics administrator with a title, but as the highest-ranking female in the athletics department with a role, a role that includes providing a more audible voice for women in athletics and advocating for women in athletics in general."