When it comes to Division III championships, a little bit might go a long way toward turning those events into lifetime memories for participating student-athletes.

That's the idea behind a recent Division III Championships Committee recommendation to make a relatively small yet meaningful investment in championships enhancement.

The committee recommended during its January meeting that $5,000 be added to budgets for Division III championship finals at 22 sites beginning in 2005-06 -- specifically for the purpose of improving student-athletes' experience at those events. The Division III Management Council will consider the recommendation at its April meeting, and it ultimately requires approval from the Division III Presidents Council.

"The initiative is driven by the membership's desire, and by the Championships Committee's desire, to follow the philosophy of Division III by creating and heightening the championships experience for student-athletes," said John Cochrane, commissioner of the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and chair of the Championships Committee.

"It's a concerted effort to try to think of ways we can implement some fairly unique programs on site at our championship finals."

The committee asked Division III sports committees and their NCAA staff liaisons last fall to list things they might be able to do with an additional $5,000 at finals sites to make the championships more enjoyable for student-athletes.

They responded with a list of 22 suggested enhancements -- ranging from scheduling guest speakers for the events to producing highlights videos as mementos -- that would be achievable with additional funding.

"We're looking at championships that maybe have had the ability to put $1,000 toward any type of enhancement or promotions," Cochrane said. "Giving them the opportunity to use at least $5,000 is really significant. It might not seem like a lot of money, from the outside looking in, but when you look at what they've had in the past, it really is a significant boost."

'Providing an atmosphere'

The committee's recommendation resulted from discussions dating back several years, culminating during recent months in meetings with various groups not only about specific enhancements, but resources that potentially could be tapped to help pay for them.

"Every time the Championships Committee gets together -- and I've been involved for more than two years, and the discussion goes well back before I joined the committee -- we discuss specific ways we can improve the experience of participants in our championship events," Cochrane said. "We take that charge very seriously.

"One of our primary roles is to assist the sports committees in providing an atmosphere at championships that will create some lifetime memories for the participants."

Last September, the committee discussed ideas during a face-to-face meeting with chairs of several Division III team sports committees. It also met with NCAA staff members responsible for staging and supporting championship-related events. As a result of those meetings, the committee asked championships staff liaisons to develop the list of possible enhancements, and it also sought input from the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Cochrane calls the resulting proposed enhancements "a very representative sample of some meaningful initiatives."

Some of the proposals are relatively simple, such as street-pole banners or other types of signage in and around the competition venue, to promote a championship atmosphere. Others are designed to create memories for participants. They include amenities such as a student-athlete lounge, or events such as opening ceremonies, performance of the national anthem by a well-known singer, or pre- or postgame fireworks displays or concerts.

"The respective sports committees will be looking at bringing in some keynote speakers, to provide an atmosphere and make it a little more special -- that this individual is willing to take time and come speak to the participants," Cochrane said. "I really think that has an impact."

In many cases, there are opportunities to involve communities hosting the event and fans who attend the championship, through activities such as autograph sessions or fan festivals.

"If we can help create some interest in the community through fan festivals, we can fund those, and involve our coaches and participants," Cochrane said. "That always enhances the atmosphere and experience around the event."

Funds also might be applied toward furnishing assorted mementos to participants, ranging from "goodie bags" to championship apparel to highlights videos.

"We've spent some time listening to student-athletes," Cochrane explained. "Some of the things on our list, like the ability for every student-athlete to take away a highlights DVD of their championship, is something they said provides a lifetime memory. It's something they can show their kids, their grandkids. And that's not a very expensive enhancement; that's something you probably can do for everyone in the event, for well within the dollar range we're talking about."

In one way or another, any of the listed suggestions would effectively enhance championships for participants, Cochrane believes.

"From my experience, that list really does incorporate the things that have an impact on student-athletes and their experience."

Emphasizing the participants

By allocating an equal amount of funding to all championships, the committee purposely seeks to benefit all student-athletes similarly -- regardless of whether the event is football or field hockey, basketball or baseball, or tennis or track. The approach is driven by the Division III philosophy statement (Bylaw 20.11), which places "special importance on the impact of athletics on the participants rather than on the spectators and ... greater emphasis on the internal constituency (students, alumni, institutional personnel) than on the general public and its entertainment needs."

"When you review the Division III philosophy statement, it becomes very clear that the primary emphasis of our events should be on the participants as opposed to placing a priority on its entertainment value," Cochrane said. "We've attempted to apply this philosophical approach as much as possible when going down this road of enhancing our championships."

That emphasis was a factor in choosing the types of enhancements.

The committee discussed other approaches, such as seeking additional television coverage of championships like football and basketball or expanding coverage to other sports -- and it certainly would be pleased to see that happen. However, realizing that some events are more likely to attract television interest than others, the committee opted to support all championships alike.

"One of the things we struggle with when we talk about improving the television exposure or other types of things for championships is that we do try to treat all of our championship events equally," Cochrane said. "We've made a conscious effort to try not to tier (or place more emphasis on specific) championships.

"That philosophy of broad-based support for championships alone tends to make it more difficult to focus a large amount of dollars on only a few championships, in order to create some additional exposure."

But concern about whether the committee is seeking enhancements that actually are meaningful to student-athletes prompted it to ask the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for input -- and the response was reassuring.

"We've heard back from the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee that increased television exposure is not very high on their list," Cochrane said. "They're looking for more of the experience-type enhancements that we've been talking about. The feedback tends to confirm that we're going down the right road here.

"We really did try to focus our enhancement package more on what directly impacts the student-athletes, as opposed to going down the road of increased television exposure and those sorts of things, because we just felt, philosophically, that's where our emphasis should be."

Seeking additional support

Of course, while an additional $5,000 per championship will do much to provide those enhancements, more funding would make even more things possible. That's why the committee, in making its recommendation to the Management Council, also reported that it will explore other sources of support.

Specifically, the committee has indicated it will try to make a case for matching support from sources such as the Association's corporate and broadcast alliances.

"A $10,000 figure seems like a really significant enhancement for our championships," Cochrane said. "If we get to that level, it will allow our sports committees to do some nice things. If we put forth $5,000, which we think is within our budget to do, then we're looking at about $110,000, and if we can then obtain a match for those funds, that would be fantastic."

But regardless of whether additional funds are forthcoming, Cochrane believes the Championships Committee already has taken a significant step with its recommendation -- and probably just a first step.

"We're going to sit back for now and wait for the feedback we get from our sports committees on the impact these dollars have," he said. "But I feel strongly that this needs to be our primary focus -- we're all about the experience and atmosphere -- and this always will be a topic we discuss every time we get together. This isn't just a one-time look at enhancement, and then we drop it.

"Perhaps a logical next step down the road may be to try and expand these types of enhancements, where practical, to some of the preliminary-round sites, to reach an even greater percentage of championship participants."