ATLANTA – The Committee on Women’s Athletics at its October 10-11 meeting heard about planning related to the release of a student-athlete pregnancy and parenting toolkit and a work-life balance handbook.

 The membership will receive a packet this fall containing Title IX and gender-equity resources. The toolkit – called “Pregnant and Parenting Student-Athletes: Resources and Model Policies” – is scheduled to be a part of that distribution. The women’s athletics committee took up the issue in summer 2007 and will distribute legal advice and best practices that institutions can use as a guide for when a student-athlete become pregnant.

The committee consulted with other membership committees and experts to develop the toolkit that is intended to educate student-athletes and staff on the legal, medical and treatment expectations for pregnant and parenting student-athletes.

There will also be two workshops at the 2009 NCAA Convention in Washington D.C. to explore both personal and organizational work-life balance issues and strategies for improvement of staff productivity, job satisfaction and retention. The membership will receive a handbook and resources related to work-life balance to facilitate campus and conference dialogue.

The projects are being completed as part of an ongoing initiative to educate those working in intercollegiate athletics the best ways to handle the highly competitive nature of the profession and the impact the culture has on an individual’s attempt to appropriately balance personal and professional interests.

Perceived barriers survey

The committee viewed the final section of preliminary findings on a report about perceived gender-equity barriers in college coaching and administration. Student-athletes, coaches, administrators and officials took the survey during the 2007-08 academic year.

One of the initial findings was that more than 97 percent of student-athletes surveyed said they would compete again in intercollegiate athletics if they had a chance to start over again.

More than 98 percent of female coaches listed the institution administration’s support of women’s athletics as the primary reason that they accepted their current position.

Another finding that drew discussion among women’s athletics committee members was that 51.7 percent of female student-athletes surveyed said they would prefer their coach to be a male. Only 40.7 percent said they would prefer their coach be a female.

“The entire study provided insight into the complex issues with within intercollegiate athletics,” said committee Chair Patrick Nero, who is also the commissioner of the America East Conference.

Committee members were particularly interested in the responses from the student-athletes.

“This group of young women is critical to the growth of women in coaching and administration,” Nero said. “Their responses should help us identify perceptions that we need to overcome through education.”

Another highlight of the survey is the answer female coaches, administrators and officials gave when asked, “To what do you attribute your interest in your first position in athletics?” The most frequently endorsed reason in all three groups was “My involvement as a student-athlete.”

The survey results will be available on NCAA.org in November.

Rugby presentation, new squash seed money

Committee members also listened to a presentation from representatives of USA Rugby. The sport has been on the NCAA emerging sports for women list since 2002.

USA Rugby plans to continue to market the sport with high school associations and NCAA members to come up with specific strategic plans for institutions that show interest in starting a varsity program.

Currently, 12,000 women compete on 315 collegiate club teams registered with the USA Rugby. There are 150 high school girls’ club teams registered around the nation.

A typical roster size for a women’s rugby team is 25-30 with a start-up cost of around $25,000. USA Rugby believes the high roster size is a way to help institutions solve gender-equity problems.

It was also pointed out that the sport caters to a variety of body types and athletic strengths, much like football for men where, for example, different body types are required for the defensive line and the secondary.

USA Rugby also announced a new grant program called “Ten by 2010” designed to move the sport forward to 10 varsity programs by providing up to $5,000 to fund start-up costs for new programs.

CWA also reviewed an action plan from the Women’s College Squash Association that outlines the goal of adding 11 more varsity teams to become an NCAA championship.

Part of the plan calls for the CSA to contact directors of athletics and club coaches about developing teams for varsity competition.

The committee was encouraged to learn about efforts to include emerging programs in the Howe Cup championship and $50,000 in grant money from the squash national governing body available to member institutions looking to develop women’s squash teams. The Women’s College Squash Association can be contacted directly (here) for more information.