National Collegiate Athletic Association
NCAA News Archive - 2007
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Coaches associations gain access to inner circle
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By Michelle Brutlag Hosick
The NCAA News
The NCAA News
Coaches’ organizations are the groups most logically positioned to affiliate with the NCAA, and many of them have found the relationship beneficial to their sports and furthering membership interests.
Leaders of some of the larger NCAA coaching association affiliates say they feel fortunate to have that relationship because of the access to decision-makers and the exposure to information their affiliation brings.
Having those things allows coaches’ associations to bring about real change in their sports, change that can move their games forward in a positive way and constructively affect student-athletes.
Coach-supported change has occurred in several sports recently, including baseball, basketball and football, and the executive directors of those associations feel their voices were heard and their issues were championed in part because of their affiliation with the NCAA.
Many say that just having a seat at the table in sports issues committee meetings (the Baseball Issues Committee or the Women’s Basketball Issues Committee, for example) has been a large part of their success.
Grant Teaff, executive director of the American Football Coaches Association, said he believes an affiliation with the NCAA is an obvious choice for his group, because the similar missions, values and goals connect the groups as “stakeholders” in collegiate athletics overall.
“It’s important for all stakeholders to be able to work together for the betterment of No. 1, the student-athlete; No. 2, the institutions; No. 3, the sports; and No. 4 the membership,” Teaff said. “We feel strongly that we all are trying to get to the same place.”
The associations also work directly with NCAA national office staff for advice and assistance in shepherding issues through the legislative cycles at all levels.
“(NCAA staff) have helped us get our issues in front of the appropriate committees. Our affiliation has helped significantly in recent years,” said American Baseball Coaches Association Executive Director Dave Kielitz. “I’d like to think that if we have a major issue our coaches would like to see forwarded, there is a means of getting it through the process. That doesn’t mean it will always pass, but at least we have an open door to present our issues, concerns and thoughts. It has worked well for us, and the NCAA has been extremely cooperative.”
Kielitz, who was part of Baseball Issues Committee discussions that led to recommended changes in the sport’s recruiting and playing and practice season calendars, also cited a more recent example with ABCA input to the Baseball Academic Enhancement Working Group, which helped produce sweeping recommendations to improve academic performance.
“Being affiliated keeps us in the loop,” he said. “One of the main reasons I think all these things have progressed is because of the relationship we have as an affiliate member.”
Teaff said without affiliation, chaos could ensue.
“You would have a lot of folks trying to do their own thing and using the media to accomplish it,” he said. “Everybody would see who could yell the loudest and get the most attention and whine and bellyache the most, which we don’t need.”
Other organizations applaud the access affiliation affords. The two basketball coaches’ associations — the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association — were given unprecedented access to the Division I legislative cycle in 2004-05, when NCAA President Myles Brand invited the groups to compile comprehensive recruiting-access packages designed to create a more nurturing and mentoring environment for student-athletes.
“It was a catalyst for us to learn so much about the governance structure and the legislative process. We had to step up,” said WBCA Executive Director Beth Bass. “That was a teachable moment that single-handedly introduced us to the importance of access to information. Information is power. Proximity is power. Being in those discussions, there’s nothing to replace it.”
Bass, who is an ex-officio member of the Women’s Basketball Issues Committee, said she would like to see the role of affiliated organizations expand to other committees that would give the coaches more of a role in the legislative process.
“In a perfect world, we’d love to see ex officio spots on the Management Council or Championships Cabinet,” she said. “Currently, the drawback is having voice and no vote. But look at how far we’ve come — it’s not just habit, it’s from cooperation and everybody saying, ‘Let’s build this sport together.’
“Coaches organizations are the mouthpiece. They are the conduit back to the campus and the student-athletes.”
Bass pointed to the controversial issue of male practice players, an issue that certainly affects her constituents, as an example of how affiliation and the familiarity it breeds benefits the group. She said the WBCA used its organizational knowledge of the NCAA to shape the debate and make sure the WBCA voice was heard. WBCA members have been outspoken about the need to retain male practice players. Bass said now that the discussion has been aired, it’s time to “remove the emotion and work through the process.”
She said some of the affiliate groups also work together on common issues. She cited informal meetings among the ABCA, NABC, WBCA, the National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association and the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators as examples.
“Even though we have different sports and different-sized organizations, it’s good to see what our common goals are and how we can work together as affiliated,” Bass said. “It’s encouraging and not competitive. When the tide rises, all ships rise.”
Leaders of some of the larger NCAA coaching association affiliates say they feel fortunate to have that relationship because of the access to decision-makers and the exposure to information their affiliation brings.
Having those things allows coaches’ associations to bring about real change in their sports, change that can move their games forward in a positive way and constructively affect student-athletes.
Coach-supported change has occurred in several sports recently, including baseball, basketball and football, and the executive directors of those associations feel their voices were heard and their issues were championed in part because of their affiliation with the NCAA.
Many say that just having a seat at the table in sports issues committee meetings (the Baseball Issues Committee or the Women’s Basketball Issues Committee, for example) has been a large part of their success.
Grant Teaff, executive director of the American Football Coaches Association, said he believes an affiliation with the NCAA is an obvious choice for his group, because the similar missions, values and goals connect the groups as “stakeholders” in collegiate athletics overall.
“It’s important for all stakeholders to be able to work together for the betterment of No. 1, the student-athlete; No. 2, the institutions; No. 3, the sports; and No. 4 the membership,” Teaff said. “We feel strongly that we all are trying to get to the same place.”
The associations also work directly with NCAA national office staff for advice and assistance in shepherding issues through the legislative cycles at all levels.
“(NCAA staff) have helped us get our issues in front of the appropriate committees. Our affiliation has helped significantly in recent years,” said American Baseball Coaches Association Executive Director Dave Kielitz. “I’d like to think that if we have a major issue our coaches would like to see forwarded, there is a means of getting it through the process. That doesn’t mean it will always pass, but at least we have an open door to present our issues, concerns and thoughts. It has worked well for us, and the NCAA has been extremely cooperative.”
Kielitz, who was part of Baseball Issues Committee discussions that led to recommended changes in the sport’s recruiting and playing and practice season calendars, also cited a more recent example with ABCA input to the Baseball Academic Enhancement Working Group, which helped produce sweeping recommendations to improve academic performance.
“Being affiliated keeps us in the loop,” he said. “One of the main reasons I think all these things have progressed is because of the relationship we have as an affiliate member.”
Teaff said without affiliation, chaos could ensue.
“You would have a lot of folks trying to do their own thing and using the media to accomplish it,” he said. “Everybody would see who could yell the loudest and get the most attention and whine and bellyache the most, which we don’t need.”
Other organizations applaud the access affiliation affords. The two basketball coaches’ associations — the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association — were given unprecedented access to the Division I legislative cycle in 2004-05, when NCAA President Myles Brand invited the groups to compile comprehensive recruiting-access packages designed to create a more nurturing and mentoring environment for student-athletes.
“It was a catalyst for us to learn so much about the governance structure and the legislative process. We had to step up,” said WBCA Executive Director Beth Bass. “That was a teachable moment that single-handedly introduced us to the importance of access to information. Information is power. Proximity is power. Being in those discussions, there’s nothing to replace it.”
Bass, who is an ex-officio member of the Women’s Basketball Issues Committee, said she would like to see the role of affiliated organizations expand to other committees that would give the coaches more of a role in the legislative process.
“In a perfect world, we’d love to see ex officio spots on the Management Council or Championships Cabinet,” she said. “Currently, the drawback is having voice and no vote. But look at how far we’ve come — it’s not just habit, it’s from cooperation and everybody saying, ‘Let’s build this sport together.’
“Coaches organizations are the mouthpiece. They are the conduit back to the campus and the student-athletes.”
Bass pointed to the controversial issue of male practice players, an issue that certainly affects her constituents, as an example of how affiliation and the familiarity it breeds benefits the group. She said the WBCA used its organizational knowledge of the NCAA to shape the debate and make sure the WBCA voice was heard. WBCA members have been outspoken about the need to retain male practice players. Bass said now that the discussion has been aired, it’s time to “remove the emotion and work through the process.”
She said some of the affiliate groups also work together on common issues. She cited informal meetings among the ABCA, NABC, WBCA, the National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association and the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators as examples.
“Even though we have different sports and different-sized organizations, it’s good to see what our common goals are and how we can work together as affiliated,” Bass said. “It’s encouraging and not competitive. When the tide rises, all ships rise.”
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