National Collegiate Athletic Association

NCAA News Archive - 2010

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Jul 21, 2010 4:31:23 PM

After months of discussion across the entire Division II membership, it turns out that the legislative package for Phase II of Life in the Balance will be rather modest.

Meeting Monday and Tuesday in Indianapolis, the Division II Management Council advanced only three Life in the Balance proposals to the Presidents Council for possible sponsorship.

And that's just fine with Division II Management Council chair Kathleen Brasfield.

" That's OK," said Brasfield, the athletics director at Angelo State. "When we started out, we talked about reviewing, and we've done that. There's still data that we need to gather. We've got to experience the changes that we put in place before we know how they impact what we're doing. We can't base decisions for the next step on facts from the past."

The meeting may have illustrated how the goals of the Life in the Balance initiative – a complete student experience for Division II student-athletes, better use of resources, more personal time for coaches and administrators – increasingly are becoming the backdrop for all legislation coming from the Division II governance structure.

"I don't know that you can really identify this grouping of legislation as being a ‘Life in the Balance package,' " said Division II Vice President Mike Racy. "Instead, it's several playing-and-practice season proposals that fit the philosophy because Life in the Balance is basically our positioning platform, whether it's proposals in Bylaw 17 or proposals that our Planning and Finance Committee will be making soon. They all hang under ‘Life in the Balance.' "

Two playing-and-practice-season proposals that will be sent to the Presidents Council govern start dates while the other deals with skill instruction.

• The first would move the start date for practice and competition in the non-championship segment for spring sports to September 7 or the fourth day of classes, whichever is earlier.
• The second would move the start date for conditioning activities and preseason practice in winter sports to September 7 or the fourth day of classes, whichever is earlier. The original proposal would have moved supervised activities for basketball, swimming and diving and indoor track and field to September 15. However, the Council concluded that student-athletes would benefit more from additional time off at the end of the season rather than at the beginning and requested the Legislation Committee to further review that concept in greater detail. However, the Council agreed that having time to acclimate to school and classes was important and therefore supported a similar change to the start date that is being recommended for spring sports for their nonchampionship segment.
• The third proposal would permit student-athletes in winter and spring sports to participate in a maximum of two hours of full team activities per week from the beginning of the institution's academic year in the fall term through the day before the first permissible practice date. In fall championship sports, it would permit a student-athlete's participation in a maximum of two hours of full team activities per week from the first day of classes in the winter or spring term through February 15. Finally, in sports other than football, it would specify that outside of the playing season after the Division II championship to one week before the start of the institution's exam period, a student-athlete could participate in no more than two hours per week of skill instruction as part of the permissible eight hours of countable athletically related activities.

The Management Council also endorsed the development of a table (known in the Division II Manual as a "figure") that would outline countable and noncountable athletically related activities that must be included in daily and weekly hour limitations.

The proposals Council did not advance were at least as significant as what it did support.

The Division II Legislation Committee had proposed two dates of competition in the non-championship segment for baseball and softball and also had proposed five dates of competition in the non-championship segment for men's lacrosse.

Ultimately, the Council chose to support neither proposal, opting instead to take a more detailed look at dates in the non-championship segment for all sports.

"One of the things that we talked at the student-athlete summit (which preceded the Management Council meeting) was that we not do something just for the sake of doing something, to create change where maybe we didn't evaluate well," Brasfield said. "So, I think those two decisions indicate we did a good job of that. I don't think anybody's opposed to looking at the nonchampionship segment. We just need more information to make sure we do it right."

The Council did note one membership-sponsored proposal that would modify legislative action taken in Phase I of Life in the Balance. The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference sponsored legislation that would change the December 20-26 winter break when no countable athletically related activities are permissible. The PSAC and the RMAC  are proposing that the winter break be applied over any seven consecutive days between December 20 and 30.

All amendments to legislation submitted by the membership are required to be evaluated by an appropriate NCAA committee before they can be included on the agenda for the NCAA Convention. The Management Council referred the membership-sponsored proposal related to the winter break to the Legislation Committee.

Four other properly sponsored membership proposals were received by the July 15 legislative deadline.

• The PSAC and the Northeast-10 Conference sponsored a proposal that would permit student-athletes in baseball, softball, and men's and women's lacrosse to engage in outside competition in the nonchampionship segment without using a season of competition, provided the student-athlete was academically eligible at the beginning of the fall term. The proposal was referred to the Legislation Committee.
• The Northeast-10 Conference, East Coast Conference and Peach Belt Conference sponsored a proposal that would specify that for a maximum of one year, participation in organized competition would be excepted in men's ice hockey, provided the participation is part of competition sanctioned by the United States Hockey Association or its international counterparts. It also would specify that participation in Major Junior A hockey would render an individual ineligible. The legislation, which was referred to the Legislation Committee, would apply to the six institutions that still compete (with no championship) at the Division II level.
• The Lone Star Conference and the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association sponsored a proposal that would specify that beginning July 1, during the summer vacation period, strength and conditioning personnel could design, conduct and monitor specific workout programs for student-athletes, provided such workouts are voluntary and requested by the student-athlete. The proposal was referred to the Legislation Committee and the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports.
• The Northeast-10 Conference and the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference sponsored a proposal that would specify that the dead periods  that apply 48 hours before the National Letter of Intent signing date apply to prospects who are in their senior year of high school. The proposal also would specify the for prospects who are not eligible to sign a letter-of-intent, the 48-hour period would be a quiet period. The proposal was referred to the Legislation Committee.

Other action

In other actions at its July 19-20 meeting, the Division II Management Council:

• Voted to recommend legislation that would remove squash from the list of emerging sports.
• Voted to recommend legislation that would remove the "phase-in" period for the application of NCAA legislation for emerging sports.
• Expressed concern over the state of the youth sports culture, especially as it pertains to recruiting. The topic will be discussed at a future Management Council meeting.