The Division III Management and Presidents Councils will consider withdrawing or referring for further study a couple of proposals they put forth for consideration at this year’s business session at the NCAA Convention – one to establish equestrian as an emerging sport for women and one impacting the end date of the fall nontraditional season.

The Councils will consider the actions during their pre-Convention meetings in Washington, D.C. The proposals currently are among 12 proposals scheduled for a vote during the January 17 Division III business session in Washington, D.C., but enough concerns have been raised to make clear that the equestrian and nontraditional-season proposals face significant opposition.

The proposal to make equestrian an emerging sport in Division III (Divisions I and II already list the sport) is part of 2009 Convention Proposal No. 7, which also seeks to remove the sports of archery, badminton, synchronized swimming and team handball from the current emerging sports list.

The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics last summer asked Division III to add equestrian to the emerging-sports list, noting that a boost in sponsorship that might be provided by approximately 20 member schools that currently have varsity equestrian programs could result in establishment of an NCAA National Collegiate Championship including teams from all three divisions.

However, coaches speaking on behalf of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association said in late December that adding equestrian to the list would dramatically change the way most Division III teams currently participate in the sport – ultimately harming those programs.

Among other concerns, the coaches said participation in the NCAA would:

•         Reduce opportunities for student-athletes to participate in the sport, because of roster restrictions in intermediate and open levels of competition.

•         Impose limits on playing and practice seasons that are incompatible with the way in which student-athletes train and the manner in which horses are cared for in the sport.

•         Put Division III programs at a disadvantage in competing against better-funded programs in other divisions.

In response, the Management Council will consider during its meeting January 14 whether to ask the Presidents Council to withdraw the portion of Proposal No. 7 that would add equestrian to the emerging-sports list. Convention delegates still would be asked to vote on the parts of the proposal that would remove the four other sports from the list.

Convention Proposal No. 12 also is generating concerns, which could prompt the Management Council to recommend referring the proposal for further study.

That proposal seeks to treat the fall nontraditional season in a manner similar to the spring season, by permitting an institution to conclude the fall season on a date coinciding with the beginning of final exams, rather than the current established end date of October 30.

However, the Faculty Athletics Representatives Association is opposing the proposal, which originated from the Management Council’s Playing and Practice Seasons Subcommittee. FARA, which also expressed concern about current legislation that permits spring nontraditional season to be conducted until the beginning of finals, says a later end date in the fall season may harm student-athletes’ ability to prepare for final exams.

In response, the Management Council will discuss recommending that the proposal be referred to committees within the Division III committee structure for further study – including consideration of the establishment of an earlier end date in the spring.

The NCAA News will provide coverage of the Management Council and Presidents Council meetings as part of the NCAA Convention coverage on www.NCAA.org.

Regardless of the Councils’ actions, Division III delegates will have several weighty issues to consider at the Convention – ranging from a proposal to require head coaches to be certified in first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and use of an automated external defibrillator (AED) to a proposal to set August 15 as the uniform start date for practice fall sports.

Those and other proposals are addressed in a Q&A document and also a series of videos prepared by the NCAA membership services staff to help delegates prepare for the Convention.

The Division III business session also will feature a report on the status of work by the Division III President Council related to a series of “white papers” addressing such membership issues as future divisional growth and diversity. That subject will be the primary focus of the Presidents Council during its meeting January 15 in Washington, D.C., and also the primary topic of discussion at a luncheon for institutional chancellors and presidents January 16.

A variety of topics will also be covered during the annual Division III Issues Forum January 16.

In addition to providing an opportunity to learn more about legislative proposals scheduled for consideration, the Issues Forum will feature an update on the Division III Drug Education and Testing Pilot.

The Convention’s varied educational sessions also offer food for thought for Division III delegates, including a session January 15 moderated by Richard Ekman, president of the Council of Independent Colleges, and featuring Bill Pennington, a New York Times writer who penned a series last year about a gap between the reality and perceptions of receiving a scholarship to play a sport.

That session, titled “Academics, Athletics and Today’s Sports Culture – Expectations and Reality,” also features as panelists Denison President Dale Knobel, Massachusetts-Boston Vice Chancellor Charlie Titus, Catholic Vice President Michael Hendricks, Oberlin women’s basketball coach Nan Carney-Debord and Puget Sound student-athlete Kavin Williams.