National Collegiate Athletic Association
NCAA News Archive - 2007
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Subdivision means subaffiliation
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Sometimes affiliated groups come in layers. With NACDA and FARA, for example, members of the football elite have created their own sub-umbrella.
Percy Bates, the faculty athletics representative at the University of Michigan, heads the 1A FARs group that maintains a connection with FARA but lobbies particularly for concerns of schools in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A).
“So much of what happens in intercollegiate athletics — at least what people read about all the time and are most aware of — happens in Division I-A,” Bates said. “Because of that, we felt we needed some independence to be able to speak quickly and directly without having to get agreement from other Divisions I, II and III FARs.”
“That doesn’t mean they don’t agree with Divisions I-AA, II and III FARs on most issues,” said Kay Hawes, who as a member of Sports Association Management, Inc., handles the FBS FAR account. “It simply means that football sets their agenda apart enough to warrant them having a separate affiliation.”
The breakdown is the same for athletics directors. Dutch Baughman, executive director of the Division 1A Athletics Directors’ Association and a former AD at Oregon State University, said the nature of the athletics director at big-time football schools is so unique that it doesn’t always fit under a broad umbrella. “We understand what the day-to-day life of the I-A athletics director because I’ve sat in that chair.”
Both groups are retaining their name despite the NCAA having agreed to change the Division I subdivision nomenclature last year to Football Bowl Subdivision (I-A) and Football Championship Subdivision (I-AA).
Percy Bates, the faculty athletics representative at the University of Michigan, heads the 1A FARs group that maintains a connection with FARA but lobbies particularly for concerns of schools in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A).
“So much of what happens in intercollegiate athletics — at least what people read about all the time and are most aware of — happens in Division I-A,” Bates said. “Because of that, we felt we needed some independence to be able to speak quickly and directly without having to get agreement from other Divisions I, II and III FARs.”
“That doesn’t mean they don’t agree with Divisions I-AA, II and III FARs on most issues,” said Kay Hawes, who as a member of Sports Association Management, Inc., handles the FBS FAR account. “It simply means that football sets their agenda apart enough to warrant them having a separate affiliation.”
The breakdown is the same for athletics directors. Dutch Baughman, executive director of the Division 1A Athletics Directors’ Association and a former AD at Oregon State University, said the nature of the athletics director at big-time football schools is so unique that it doesn’t always fit under a broad umbrella. “We understand what the day-to-day life of the I-A athletics director because I’ve sat in that chair.”
Both groups are retaining their name despite the NCAA having agreed to change the Division I subdivision nomenclature last year to Football Bowl Subdivision (I-A) and Football Championship Subdivision (I-AA).
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