The Division II Championships Committee recently began a comprehensive follow-up to 2006 Convention Proposal No. 34, which would have permitted student-athletes and coaching staff members in sports other than football to engage in certain countable athletically related activities outside the institution’s playing season.

The committee met June 26-28 in Boston.

Proposal No. 34, which was developed by the Division II Legislation Committee and sponsored by the Presidents Council, would have given coaches the flexibility to include more than four student-athletes in individual skill instruction. It was defeated by a vote of 103-152-3 amid concerns that it would be de facto year-round practice, that it would be expensive and that it would stretch athletic training capabilities throughout the membership.

The Championships Committee, acting on the Management Council’s request to review the matter, sought information from Division II sports committees.

The consensus continued to be that eight hours of countable athletically related activities per week outside the playing season should be permitted and that of those eight hours, no more than two should be devoted to skill instruction.

The committee added a third principle: that all Division II student-athletes should have the opportunity to have a traditional student experience during their out-of-season period.

The Championships Committee forwarded these principles to the Management Council with the recommendation that they be the basis for any revised legislation that will be submitted to the membership.

The topic was to be discussed at the Management Council-Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Summit July 15-16 in Dallas. Legislation probably will not be considered until the January 2008 Convention.

Other business

The committee also approved a midseason eligibility verification form, which was an outgrowth of recommendations from the Championships Eligibility Project Team.

The purpose of the form is to identify any student-athletes whose eligibility status could have changed since having been certified earlier in the year. The form was pilot-tested this spring during the Division II Baseball and Softball Championships. Although participation was not required, all 112 teams used the form without expressing any major concerns.

All teams under championships consideration will be required to use the form beginning this fall. In cases where conferences host "all-comers" meets to determine their automatic qualifier, all teams from the conference will be required to complete the form.

On another matter, the Championships Committee discussed what can be done to encourage out-of-conference, in-region play. In some cases, teams have filled their schedules by playing nothing but conference games. This may cause championship-selection problems since the committee has little comparative data.

To solve the problem, some sports committees are stipulating that a percentage of any team’s schedule must be against out-of-conference, in-region opponents. The committee also will ask the Division II Conference Commissioners Association to encourage or require conferences within regions to work together to produce more varied schedules.

Also, later this summer, the committee will provide a regionalization handbook to Division II sports information directors, athletics directors and conference commissioners. The book will provide sport-by-sport information on how the new regionalization policy will be applied.

Each sport must implement the policy by 2008-09, although some have chosen to begin in 2007-08. Sports implementing the new arrangement in 2007-08 are basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, women’s soccer and women’s volleyball. Those implementing in 2008-09 are baseball, cross country, football, golf, men’s soccer, softball, tennis and wrestling.