Convention

Celebration tops Association’s 100th Convention program

Celebration will be at the top of the agenda for delegates attending the 100th annual NCAA Convention January 6-9 in Indianapolis.

The Association will “celebrate the student-athlete” with a Convention that is focused on what the Association has been, what it is and what it hopes to become. The Centennial theme will be omnipresent throughout the four-day event, from the display of a newly created photomosaic all the way through the debut of “In the Arena: The NCAA’s First Century,” Joseph N. Crowley’s comprehensive history of the Association.

Unique programming will abound, including a special screening of the soon-to-be-released “Glory Road” (the story of Texas Western College’s landmark 1966 NCAA basketball championship), an evening with CBS broadcasting legend Walter Cronkite and a panel discussion (“An Inside Look at the NCAA”) involving past and present leaders of the Association. Traditional presentations, such as the January 7 honors program, will have a Centennial look and feel.

The Convention also will see substantial business conducted in all three membership divisoins. Division II delegates will address a 40-proposal legislative package on the morning of January 9 while Division III will consider 29 proposals.

Division I, meanwhile, will make history by conducting the first legislative override vote since the Association restructured in 1997. The vote involves financial aid limits.

For more information, see page 1.

Centennial

Scholars’ participation invited for 2007 academic conference

The first Conference on Intercollegiate Athletics and Higher Education in America — scheduled during the continuing celebration of the NCAA Centennial at the 2007 Convention in Orlando, Florida —will focus on intercollegiate athletics in the context of higher education in America.

The academic juried conference will focus on research, theory and critical thinking about college sports over the past 100 years. Researchers are invited to look at the past, present and future as it relates to the following areas: historical, educational, social/cultural, health and business, as well as special topics.

The conference — the first of what the NCAA hopes will become an annual event — is intended to help maintain a strong bridge between sports and academics in America.

Selected papers will be presented during the conference and possibly may be published in an academic journal.

Interested scholars can contact Molly Myers of the NCAA staff at 317/917-6143 (email mmyers@ncaa.org). Information also is available at the NCAA Web site at www2.ncaa.org/media_and_events/events/centennial/index.html (follow the “Conference on Intercollegiate Athletics and Higher Education” link.

Academics

Secondary-school education working group established

Members have been named for a working group formed to review whether recent trends in secondary-school education circumvent the intent of NCAA initial-eligibility standards in Divisions I and II.

NCAA President Myles Brand authorized the working group after presidents from several NCAA member institutions raised concerns about the legitimacy of high school academic credentials presented by some incoming student-athletes, including credentials earned through nontraditional schools and courses.

The working group includes members from Divisions I and II institutions and conferences, as well as executives representing the National Federation of State High School Association, National Association of Basketball Coaches and American Football Coaches Association.

The group is expected to develop recomendations by June 2006.

For more information, see the December 5 issue of The NCAA News.