League members agree to shake on sportsmanship pact

 The addition of a small, but symbolic, gesture to pregame activities at Gateway Football Conference games drew national recognition during the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance awards dinner June 4.

Individuals representing each of CTSA's 12 members were honored at the ceremony for promoting the values of sportsmanship, ethical play in athletics competition, and citizenship and community service. Athletics directors Tim Van Alstine of Western Illinois University and Wood Selig of Western Kentucky University were nominated by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics for their role in a conference-wide policy in which entire squads shake hands before every league matchup in all sports.

The idea emerged after a brawl between the two schools' football teams in a 2002 Division I-AA quarterfinal game resulted in 13 players being suspended.

"We did a lot of work after that incident to try to correct things and make them better," said Patty Viverito, commissioner of the Gateway Football Conference. "The challenge was how to communicate that to the public."

By chance, the teams met in the first conference game the following season. Western Illinois' Van Alstine suggested adding a handshake to the pregame preparations as a show of good sportsmanship. Selig, along with the coaches from both teams, agreed.

"We didn't publicize it in advance. We were just going to see how it played out," said Viverito. "The coaches shook hands and the players followed while the sportsmanship statement was read. So you had 40 yards of hand-shaking student-athletes with helmets under hand. The response from the crowd was incredible. It was spontaneous and sustained applause. It absolutely changed the tenor of what went on, on the field and probably the attitudes of the people in the stands."

After Viverito reported the success to the league's presidents council, the group decided to orchestrate a handshake between all members of both teams before every conference game, beginning with the 2004 season, making the Gateway the first NCAA conference to establish such a policy. This past year, the league expanded the practice to all sports.

"We hope that what the Gateway Conference has done can lead to more Divisions I, II, and III conferences adopting a similar practice. It certainly raises the expectations for both players and fans," said Ron Stratten, NCAA vice-president for education services and CTSA chair.

Athletic trainers group issues heat guidelines

The National Athletic Trainers' Association and the Gatorade Sports Science Institute have issued recommendations on how to prevent heat-related illnesses during preseason activities during the summer months.

As part of the Guidelines on Heat Safety in Football, the NATA and GSSI recommend arranging proper medical coverage at all practices and games, acclimating athletes to heat over a two-week period and allowing proper fluid replacement to maintain hydration. The groups also suggest weighing athletes before and after practices to monitor sweat loss and hydration as well as arranging practice and rest in shaded areas and during cooler times of day. The entire statement is online at www.nata.org/publicinformation/files/youth_football.pdf.

California lineman takes one for the team

University of California, Berkeley, offensive lineman Mike Tepper is used to playing the role of protector on the field. But earlier this summer he performed off the gridiron as well. Tepper's quick action in June saved former California volleyball student-athlete Camille Leffall from serious harm when he pushed her out of the path of a speeding car.

Tepper and Leffall were crossing an intersection when a car pulled alongside the two friends. When the occupants began harassing Leffall, Tepper asked the men to let them pass. As the student-athletes tried to cross behind the car, the driver shifted into reverse. Tepper managed to shove Leffall out of the direct path of the car, but both were still hit by the front passenger side. The driver ran over Tepper's right leg, put the car in drive and ran over his leg a second time before speeding away.

Leffall suffered cuts, bruises and an injured back, while Tepper will spend the 2005 season on the sidelines recovering from a broken fibula, among other injuries. He is expected to make a full recovery.

Police arrested and charged three men in connection with the incident.

-- Compiled by Leilana McKindra

Number crunching

Looking back

 20 years ago

Here's what was making NCAA news in August 1985:

• A survey of the 31 Division I conferences reveals that only 4 percent of more than 16,000 student-athletes were denied renewal of their athletics grants-in-aid in 1983-84. The primary reasons cited for nonrenewal were either poor academic performance by the athlete (29 percent) or discontinued participation in athletics (26 percent). Other reasons included poor athletics performance, disciplinary problems, injuries and transfers to other institutions.

• The NCAA Public Relations and Promotions Committee discusses results of a poll indicating that the public and media view the NCAA only as an "enforcer." The poll suggests more visibility by NCAA officers as a means of combating the negative image and publicizing the NCAA's positive programs. In addition, a panel of media representatives meets with the committee to discuss suggestions for improvement, including a recommendation that sports information directors increase their service to reporters. The media panel claims that SIDs and other athletics administrators do not perform their duties as well as their predecessors and that the problem was growing to the extent that writers and commentators view the "nonservice" as tarnishing the image of intercollegiate athletics.

• Financial data from the 1985 Division I Women's Basketball Championship show that the Final Four teams earned better than 1,000 percent more than their counterparts in 1984. The 1985 participants received $7,368 compared with the $696 distributed to the 1984 Final Four teams. A significant amount of the increase is from the new CBS contract. Attendance revenue (up 85 percent over a four-year period) also is shown as a contributing factor.

• An article reprinted in the August 14 issue of The NCAA News by Doug Tucker of the Associated Press states that "the idea of paying athletes in the
  money-making sports of football and men's basketball no longer seems so far fetched." Tucker also quotes University of Notre Dame men's basketball coach Richard "Digger" Phelps as saying, "Other sports are not generating the kind of income that football and basketball do, and it's time we recognize that. People are not filling up a stadium of 60,000 to watch a lacrosse game. It's time to give sports what they earn themselves. That's the way of life in this country. That's competition." Tucker's article earns a response from Iona College Assistant Athletics Director Dick Quinn in September, who says, "Paying college athletes will lead to the elimination of all nonrevenue sports, severely cripple advances made in women's sports and allow for competition only among large state-supported institutions."