The Division I Women’s Basketball Issues Committee is using one of the sport’s greatest assets to strengthen its brand: coaches.

Committee members at their May 8-9 meeting in Indianapolis arranged for coaches to receive brand “activation kits” containing talking points and other items they can use to enhance the sport on a variety of platforms and within the scope of the coach’s day-to-day responsibilities.

The talking points focus on the five core attributes identified as part of the women’s basketball brand campaign:

• Student-athletes play a fundamentally sound game.

• The game features a high quality of play and competition.

• Student-athletes can be role models for young children.

• Women’s basketball is a family-oriented brand of entertainment

• Student-athletes demonstrate a high level of sportsmanship.

The activation kits for coaches resemble those sent to to Divisions I, II and III institutions and conferences in preparation for the 2005-06 season.

“Clearly our coaches are the best spokespersons for the game,” said committee Chair Carolyn Schlie Femovich, the executive director of the Patriot League. “They can promote the sport through their opportunities with the media and the public at large. Coaches are a way to carry the message in a meaningful and effective way.”

NCAA Vice President for Division I Women’s Basketball Sue Donohoe agreed, saying the committee wants to emphasize the roles coaches can play in helping the branding initiative along.

“We’re asking coaches to serve as active participants in the branding initiative, to promote the unique attributes of the women’s game and to use these attributes to continue to build their program,” she said. “The committee is discussing mechanisms by which this national brand can be promoted in conjunction with both the institution’s brand, as well as that of the conferences.”

Committee members also see coaches as year-round advocates for the game. Popularity of the Division I tournament is at an all-time high, but committee members want to make sure the sport remains strong in months other than March.

“We need to make sure we’re constantly thinking about what happens in the regular season and the impact it has on coaches and the student-athletes,” Femovich said. “We want to continue to enhance the public’s interest in women’s basketball during the regular season as well as in the tournament.”

Legislative review

In other action, the committee discussed legislative issues, including several proposals that may be included in the 2006-07 legislative cycle regarding the basketball event certification program. The program regulating the summer nonscholastic environment already contains a number of criteria for events to meet before they can be certified and thus permissible for NCAA coaches to attend for evaluation purposes, but the proposed legislation would strengthen those criteria. The Division I Men’s Basketball Issues Committee and both the men’s and women’s coaches associations also have contributed to the proposals.

The potential legislation, which will be reviewed by both the Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance and Championships/Competition Cabinets this summer, would add the following criteria for a men’s or women’s basketball event to be certified:

n Qualified medical personnel must be on site;

n Athletics activities may not begin before 8 a.m. or after 10 p.m. on any given day of competition; and

n Players may not participate in more than three games in one day or more than five in a rolling two-day period.

If approved through the governance structure, the proposals would be effective for events conducted in summer 2007.

The committee also discussed other legislative concepts, including a review of the recently revised recruiting calendar and whether the current 85 recruiting “person days” is appropriate. Committee members agreed that while there are different opinions on the matter, the new calendar hasn’t been in place long enough to warrant proposing a change. Members agreed, though, to monitor membership feedback and propose a change in the future, if necessary.

Committee members also reviewed data regarding the growth of parity within the sport. The last two NCAA tournaments have produced first-time champions, but the committee believes there is room for more.

The fact that ESPN recorded a double-digit increase in television ratings for this year’s tournament also shows that fans don’t mind seeing new teams vying for prominence.

“If you have good games, not only will you attract the audience, you’ll keep them,” Femovich said. “We’re seeing more teams reach the Women’s Final Four, and we’re starting to see different teams advance through the preliminary rounds, too.”

In addition, the committee reviewed reports from the Division I Women’s Enhancement Discussion Group, a collection of stakeholders appointed by NCAA President Myles Brand to set the sport’s future agenda. The group, which includes coaches, student-athletes, administrators and broadcast representatives, met for the first time in February and is scheduled to meet again June 6-8 in Indianapolis.

“The discussion group’s agenda is a little bit broader than the basketball issues committee’s focus,” said Femovich, who is a member of both groups. “We talk about where the game will be in 10 years. The purpose is to think beyond some of the details and look at the bigger picture, such as what will benefit the game in the long run. In the end, the two groups will complement each other, with the issues committee likely taking some of the discussion group’s plans and shepherding them through the governance structure.”