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NCAA News Archive - 2010

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Feb 22, 2010 8:34:07 AM

Part 1 of a four-part series on Phase II of the Division II Life in the Balance initiative.

Now that Division II has approved strategic reductions in the playing season and game limits in 10 sports, the Presidents Council is following through on its promise to make the pursuit of balance for student-athletes an ongoing concern.

Phase II of the division's "Life in the Balance" initiative to align Division II athletics competition policies with an attribute-based strategic-positioning platform is already under way. Though no proposals have been developed for the 2011 Convention, the Presidents Council has identified areas it wants the governance structure and the membership to consider.

They are:

• The overall length of the playing season and maximum number of contests or dates of competition for sports that were not affected in Phase I.
• The number of annual and discretionary exemptions in various sports (for example, alumni meets, conference championships, scrimmages, exhibition games, preseason tournament games). 
• The structure of the nonchampionship segment in all sports (that is, the period of athletically related activities that is outside of a given sport's traditional playing season).  
• The "20/8-hour rule," regarding limits on athletically related activities and skill instruction in and out of season. 

As was the case with Phase I, the Presidents Council has charged the Division II Legislation and Championships Committees with overseeing the development of legislative proposals for the 2011 Convention. As was also the case with Phase I, the Phase II effort will rely on data, input from all constituents and a well-vetted approach throughout the governance structure to align athletics behavior with the identity Division II has carved out for itself in its strategic platform.

As for the first area of review, the Division II Legislation Committee began looking at maximum contest limits in other sports even before the votes on Phase I at the 2010 Convention. In November 2009, the committee narrowed the discussion for future in-person meetings by deciding what was off the table.

Thus, sports not being reviewed are:

• Emerging sports for women, such as rugby, equestrian and sand volleyball. Because the intent of the emerging-sports legislation is to provide additional athletics opportunities for female student-athletes, the committee believes contest reductions are not appropriate at this time.   
• National Collegiate Championship sports. The committee also exempted from review those sports in which Division II sponsoring schools compete against institutions that affiliate the bulk of their athletics program in other divisions. Three of these sports are men's sports (gymnastics, volleyball, water polo), six are women's (bowling, gymnastics, ice hockey, water polo) and three are men's and women sports (fencing, rifle, skiing). The committee cited competitive-equity concerns as the reason for leaving them out of the Phase II review.
• Other sports such as swimming and diving, lacrosse, wrestling, and indoor and outdoor track and field. The committee determined that these sports already fit well in their season windows and do not face issues with many midweek contests or missed class time. In addition, the Division II Championships Committee just last week approved a recommendation from the swimming and diving committee to cap the championships field at 365 competitors (160 men and 205 women) beginning in 2011.

The Legislation Committee did agree, however, to look at the number of contest dates in two championship sports – football and tennis.  Further, because of feedback received at the 2010 Convention from the Division II Presidents Council, Management Council and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, the overall length of the season for winter sports (for example, swimming and diving and basketball) will be reviewed.

To facilitate that review, the committee has asked for information (to be obtained through the score-reporting system in championships) on the number of Thursday night games in football and the number of institutions that participated in 10 games versus the maximum of 11 games over the last three years (2007, 2008 and 2009).

The purpose of gathering those data, according to Division II Vice President Mike Racy, may be more quantitative than qualitative. Division II has carved out Thursday as its window for televised games in the broadcast agreement with CBS College Sports, and campuses that have hosted those contests report increased attendance and exposure for their programs.

"At the same time," Racy said, "it's important to know how many institutions are deciding to play on Thursday even when those games are not televised, so we can answer questions about missed class time and any desire to play more weekday games."

The Legislation Committee also wants a three-year report on the average number of dates of competition in tennis. Because tennis faces similar challenges as golf relating to facilities, weather and travel, the committee wants to examine how many dates of competition that schools sponsoring tennis choose to play.

The Division II Championships Committee used part of its February 1-3 meeting to talk about the Phase II data gathering in football and tennis. Members acknowledged that while the call for data – particularly in football – might alarm people, the effort to obtain data doesn't necessarily mean fewer contests.

Bob Boerigter, director of athletics at Northwest Missouri State and a member of the Championships Committee, said, "Review and reduction aren't synonymous. Just because we're looking at data doesn't mean it will lead to reductions. We're looking at the data for Thursday games in football just to see how often it's being done and its effect on missed class time."

Boerigter and others also cited interest in curbing further use of weekdays to stage football games. Division I conferences, for example, have entered television agreements that put their games on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday nights. There's no momentum to do that in Division II, Boerigter said.

The Division II Legislation Committee meets March 18-19 and will review feedback between now and then from committees and coaches associations and propose concepts that will go through further vetting before the Legislation and Championships Committees' joint meeting in June.

That session is expected to produce legislative proposals that will enter a more formal review through the governance structure. Proposals that emerge from the Management and Presidents Councils in July and August will make their way to the 2011 Convention as the Phase II package.

Coming in Part 2: Possible changes in schools' use of annual and discretionary exemptions. Share your feedback, ideas and thoughts for Life in the Balance Phase II by sending an e-mail to lifeinthebalance@ncaa.org. That e-mail address is monitored for feedback and ideas only and is not intended for questions requesting a response.