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DII Council moves forward with second phase of Life in the Balance

By David Pickle
NCAA.org

Phase II of Division II’s Life in the Balance initiative will be a three-proposal package designed to help student-athletes better acclimate to college and to add more flexibility to skill-instruction legislation.

The Division II Presidents Council agreed Tuesday to sponsor the three proposals, which were developed by the Legislation and Championships Committees after consultation with a wide variety of Division II constituents throughout the winter and spring.

The first proposal would amend the start date of the nonchampionship segment for spring sports to September 7 or the fourth day of classes, whichever is earlier. The hope is that the legislation will permit those student-athletes with the opportunity to acclimate to campus, their class schedules and their non-athletically related commitments.

Division II Management Council chair Kathleen Brasfield, athletics director at Angelo State, emphasized that the rule would not permit athletics involvement until the fourth day of class, as distinguished from four days after the start of class.

The second proposal would amend Bylaw 17.1.6.2 so that winter and spring-sport coaches would have the ability to prepare for in-season competition with full team activities, including practice, from the beginning of the institution’s academic year in the fall term through the day before the first permissible practice date. The same opportunity would be available for fall championship sports from the first day of classes in the winter or spring term through February 15. Skill instruction would be maintained for the development of individual student-athletes after the Division II championship until the week before the institution’s final examination period.

Brasfield emphasized that the proposal would not increase the amount of time that coaches and student-athletes devote to out-of-season activities. It would simply permit another type of activity during the period.

The remaining Phase II proposal would establish a start date of September 7 or the fourth day of classes, whichever is earlier for conditioning or preseason activities in all winter sports.. At most institutions, the change would benefit student-athletes by starting preseason practice later in the fall term, thus allowing them to acclimate more effectively to campus life.  In a separate proposal, the Presidents Council sponsored legislation for the 2011 Convention in wrestling that would establish October 10 as the start date for preseason practice and November 1 as the start date for any competition.  

Division II Presidents Council chair Drew Bogner, president of Molloy College, noted that Division II faced significant pressure to “chip away” at the gains made through Phase I of Life in the Balance and praised administrators and presidents for continuing to stand behind the objectives of the initiative. “We should take pride in holding our ground,” he said.

In other business at its summer meeting, the Division II Presidents Council:

• Agreed to sponsor other legislative proposals involving:, an annual exemption for wrestlers to participate in the National Wrestling Coaches Association National Duals, dates of competition in track and field, seasons of competition relating to fundraising or celebrity sports activities, eligibility for national championships, removal of squash from the list of emerging sports, and elimination of the emerging sports timetable.
• Received a report on Tuesday’s first in-person meeting of the Division II Long-Range Projections Task Force.
• Recognized Beverley Pitts, president of the University of Indianapolis, for her service as vice chair.