After a year of collecting information on conduct fouls in Division III, Empire 8 Commissioner Chuck Mitrano has seen his vision of addressing sportsmanship turn into tangible data.

With the help of 41 conferences and more than 430 institutions in Division III, Mitrano has taken on the task of organizing the numbers as they come in from around the country. It is a daunting task, but Mitrano believes the payoff -- a more positive environment in intercollegiate athletics -- would be worth it.

The project, funded through a Division III initiatives grant, tracks conduct fouls in men's and women's basketball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's ice hockey, men's and women's lacrosse, and football.

The first year of data indicate that most conduct fouls -- defined for the purpose of the survey as penalties or fouls specifically noted as unsporting in each respective sport's playing rules -- occur in men's sports.

For example, there were 417 red cards (ejections) in men's Division III soccer in 2003-04, compared to only 57 on the women's side. Data also reveal that 838 technical fouls were called against men's basketball student-athletes and coaches compared to 325 in the women's game.

Mitrano is in the process of finalizing data collected this fall to see if the trend is continuing. Mitrano hopes the number will reveal that coaches and administrators are using conduct fouls as a teachable moment.

"The most valuable learning with the program comes by tracking it real-time," Mitrano said. "That's when you really make effective change."

Mitrano emphasized the importance for athletics administrators and presidents to deal with problems in a timely manner.

"We are trying to encourage other conferences to look at misconduct this way," said Ron Stratten, NCAA vice-president for education services. "The Empire 8 already is doing that, but you can use this tracking information too so the information can be shared (throughout Division III)."

Mitrano knows there will be a tendency to compare different sports. But he said that is not the best way to evaluate behavior across the board. He prefers that each sport be judged within the parameters of its own playing rules.

"Some people have noted that what might be a yellow card in soccer could be considered a regular foul in basketball," Mitrano said. "I say, 'Yeah, but you don't play basketball. You play soccer.' It's a violation. That's what's good about this system. Everyone is held to the same standards. It's not me sitting here saying we're going to track something just because I think it's important."

Mitrano's tracking system is raising eyebrows as a potential model for more than just Division III use. Others in the membership have been impressed by what they've seen of the initiative so far, too.

"One of the challenges that typically emerges from discussions with conference commissioners is, 'Show me the evidence that there is poor sportsmanship,' " said Woody Gibson, chair of the NCAA Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct. "We talk about it, but they want to see numbers. Chuck's study shows whether we have as much bad conduct as we think we do. The numbers support the need for the discussion. Hopefully, we can adopt this study in various conferences around the country as a model to develop even more specific data."

Mitrano also collects data on general misconduct reports, incidents that could include a fan being abusive during a contest or a visiting team damaging the locker room.

Mitrano said that adds accountability for everyone involved in an athletics event should the line for sportsmanship and ethical conduct be crossed.

"Maybe in the past, someone wrecking a locker room after a game would not have been brought to the attention of the athletics director at that institution. There was no ability to take action. This creates a system," he said.

Mitrano hopes this project will spark other ideas in creating positive environments in the realm of college competition.

"Some of the concern when I first started the program was that it didn't cover everything," Mitrano said. "We have to start somewhere. Once people start at this point and they are tracking real-time or doing it in general, it gets them thinking about the other tentacles of sportsmanship."