The Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Committee is recommending that the rule known as "the honest-effort rule" be replaced with a section entitled "failure to participate." The recommendation, made during the committee’s annual meeting June 28-31, would eliminate the idea of an intentional false start.

The new rule would require that the student-athlete or relay teams participate in the trials or finals of all events declared. While the terminology would change, the penalty for failure to participate would be the same as for honest effort: Violators are barred from all remaining events in the meet.

"Honest effort is an annual topic of debate," said Sue McGrath-Powell, who chairs the track and field committee’s rules subcommittee. "We never want to be judging the intent of the participant — just the outward action. We hope this change will discourage unethical gamesmanship in our meets without expecting our officials to interpret intent."

That proposal and all others passed by the committee must be reviewed and approved by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel (PROP) before being final and incorporated into the rules book.

The rules subcommittee also adopted specific language to describe the area-enclosure expectations for the hammer and discus. The previous rule recognized differences based on placement, available space and relationship to other facilities and competition. The new rule, created with input from a number of throws coaches, provides more specific direction about the placement of posts and panels.

"The membership often requests more information about the cage," said McGrath-Powell, women’s track and field coach at the University of Delaware. "We tried to add specifics to help guide those who are building new cages or re-evaluating their current set-up."

Committee members also voted to retain the international scoring system currently used in meets with four or fewer teams as the default scoring system. However, the committee also asked PROP to approve an alternative scoring system as an option if both coaches agree. In a dual meet, the alternative scoring system would award five points for first place, three points for second and one point for third in individual events and five points to the winner of relay events. The scoring system was used before the 2000-01 season.

"The international scoring system mandates that two individuals from each team will score," McGrath-Powell said. "That rewards large teams and reinforces the team concept that is great for the sport. Not all institutions and conferences have large teams, though, and keeping the score artificially close with this method is not always desired."

When coaches cannot agree to use the alternative scoring system, the international system is required.

A complete list of rules-change proposals will be mailed to all head coaches and conference commissioners. The proposed changes also are available on the NCAA Online (www.ncaa.org).