National Collegiate Athletic Association |
The NCAA News - News & FeaturesJuly 1, 1996Thirty-two events recommended for contest exemptionThe NCAA Special Events Committee has recommended the certification of 32 events and contests for exemption from the participating institutions' maximum number of contests or dates of competition.Meeting June 14 in Kansas City, Missouri, the committee also adopted several policies for the conduct and administration of exempted contests, a responsibility given to it by the passage of 1996 NCAA Convention Proposal No. 69. It was the first time the committee had considered exemption requests since the passage of the legislation, which also expanded the committee's membership to include representatives of Divisions I-AA and I-AAA. In April, the Council requested that the committee not take any action on contest exemptions until the three Division I-AA and three Division I-AAA representatives were appointed. These subdivisions were represented at the June 14 meeting. The exemption recommendations (see accompanying box) are subject to approval by the NCAA Council. The committee also recommended to the Council the adoption of an application form for sponsoring agencies to submit when seeking exemption for their events. The committee processed this group of exemption requests with a working draft of an application form; the recommendation would make the draft permanent, with only minor revision. The committee also established a timeline for consideration of future exemption requests. All fall events will be reviewed at the group's January meeting, and the application deadline will be December 1. All winter and spring events will be considered at the June meeting, and applications will be due May 1. However, the committee acknowledged that there may have been some confusion about when it would first consider exemption requests for 1996-97, and it approved a second deadline of July 1. Requests submitted by this date will be considered in August. The committee noted, however, that this is a one-time exception that has been granted in order to accommodate agencies that may be unfamiliar with the new processing procedure. In other actions related to contest exemptions, the committee: * Voted to require teams participating in exempted contests to either use or be financially responsible for hotel rooms reserved by the sponsoring agency, unless authorized by the committee to select another hotel. The committee noted that this is consistent with policies for NCAA championships and several conference championships. * Voted that sponsoring agencies must pay 50 percent of participating teams' airfare, beginning in 1999-00. The fare will be based on coach travel at the 21-day rate. * Voted that the $30 per diem may be claimed for the date(s) of competition and one day of travel. * Voted to require sponsoring agencies to issue expense reimbursement to participating institutions within 60 days of the event. * Voted to prohibit sponsoring agencies and tournaments from charging an entry fee or requiring teams to purchase a minimum number of tickets. * Voted to require sponsoring agencies to submit a financial report of the previous game or event as part of its application for future certification. * Agreed to delay consideration of a certification fee for one year. * Agreed that sponsoring agencies offering lump-sum guarantees must show how these guarantees meet actual expenses required by legislation. * Affirmed its support of existing legislation that allows only one team from a conference to get a contest exemption for participation in a certified event. * Voted to require sponsors to carry general liability insurance and maintain primary comprehensive general coverage listing the NCAA as an additional insured, with combined single limits of at least $1 million per occurrence for bodily injury and property damage. * Noted that it does not have the authority to act on the University of Hawaii at Hilo's request for an exemption to all expense requirements for exempt events sponsored by the school. The group will encourage the university to ask the Division II Steering Committee for the same type of exemption as the Division I Steering Committee approved for events in Alaska and Hawaii in sports other than football and men's basketball. * Agreed that a sponsoring agency must include some type of cultural activity (e.g., a banquet featuring food unique to the area or a tour of a local point of interest) to comply with NCAA Bylaw 30.10.1.1, which requires exempted events to provide a unique competitive and cultural experience for participating student-athletes. * Agreed to delay a certification decision on the Puerto Rico Holiday Basketball Tournament until its August meeting. The committee is awaiting more information from American University of Puerto Rico. The committee voted to allow sponsors of certified all-star contests to pay for players' spouses to attend the game only if that opportunity is available for spouses of all players.
Recommended exempted contestsFollowing are the names, sponsors, dates and locations of the events and contests that the Special Events Committee has recommended for exemption from the participating institutions' maximum number of contests or dates of competition:Men's Basketball
Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic
BCA Classic
Great Eight
Hawaii NIKE Festival
Maui Invitational
Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic
Preseason National Invitation Tournament
Puerto Rico Holiday Basketball Tournament
10th Puerto Rico Shootout Basketball Tournament
Top of the World Classic
United Airlines Tip-Off Tournament
(Name to be determined) Women's Basketball
Ala Moana Paradise Classic
Hawaii Invitational
Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament
Rainbow Wahine Classic
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic Baseball
Bank of America Rainbow Easter Baseball Tournament
First Pitch Tip-Off Tournament Football
Kickoff Classic XIV
Pigskin Classic VII Men's Golf
John A. Burns Intercollegiate Golf Classic
Rolex National Intercollegiate Match-Play Team Championship Women's Golf
Rainbow Wahine Invitational Men's Soccer
Outrigger Hotels Soccer Festival Softball
Preseason Classic
University of Hawaii Invitational Men's Swimming and Diving
Rainbow Invitational Men's Volleyball
Aston's Imua Wahine Invitational
Outrigger Hotels International Women's Volleyball
Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic
State Farm/NACWAA Volleyball Classic |