National Collegiate Athletic Association |
The NCAA News DigestMay 18, 1998
Division I softball midseason trends
Midseason trends Batting Batting average -- .267 Scoring -- 3.88 HR/Game -- 0.24 SB/Game -- 1.10 Pitching ERA -- 2.66 Strikeouts/Seven Innings -- 3.96 Fielding Fielding Percentage -- .945 Averages are per game and per team. 1997 statistics Batting Batting average -- .269 Scoring -- 3.86 HR/Game -- 0.23 SB/Game -- 1.11 Pitching ERA -- 2.70 Strikeouts/Seven Innings -- 3.75 Fielding Fielding Percentage -- .944 Averages are per game and per team. Conference leaders Batting Average Southwestern Athletic -- .311 Scoring Southwestern Athletic -- 8.62 HR/Game Pacific-10 -- 0.51 SB/Game Mid-Eastern Athletic -- 2.52 ERA Pacific-10 -- 1.64 Strikeouts/Seven Innings Big 12 -- 5.22 Fielding Percentage Pacific-10 -- .961 Pitching and hitting figures for Division I women's softball at midseason are similar to those for the 1997 season -- and that means the emphasis is on offense. Figures for batting average, scoring, and home runs per game are at or near record levels. As a result, the collective earned-run average of 2.66 at midseason is near the all-time high, which was set in 1997.
FINANCIAL AIDDivision I members discuss Title IX compliance issues About 40 attendees heard testimony May 11 regarding several possible resolutions to difficulties that Association financial aid limitations may pose for institutions seeking to comply with Title IX. Committee chair Charlotte West, associate athletics director and senior woman administrator at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, said the hearing "reinforced ... how complex the issue is." The Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Depart-ment of Education has expressed concern that institutions offering a full complement of scholarships in women's sports still may violate Title IX financial aid requirements. Staff contact: Lynn M. Holzman.
LEADERSHIP CONFERENCEProgram offers education opportunities to student-athletes The 1998 NCAA Foundation Leadership Conference will feature a varied program that will explore issues ranging from student-athlete involvement in the restructured NCAA to the image of student-athletes. More than 370 student-athletes will participate in this year's conference, which will be conducted May 25-28 at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Staff contact: Ronald J. Stratten.
FEDERAL RELATIONSCongress votes down provision to require sports-cuts predictions The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to strike a provision from the Higher Education Act Amendments of 1998, H.R. 6, that would have required all colleges and universities to predict on an annual basis changes that may occur in a collegiate sports program over the next four years. The provision also would have required institutions to provide the reasons for decisions to eliminate sports programs. Specifically, the provision would have required colleges and universities to provide a statement of any reduction that may occur or is likely to occur during the ensuing four academic years in the number of athletes that will be permitted to participate in any collegiate sport, or in the financial resources that the institution will make available to any such sport and the reasons for any such reduction. Failure to provide the information could have resulted in the loss of eligibility for federal student grant and loan financial assistance. Staff contact: Doris Dixon.
LITIGATIONExecutive Committee authorizes appeal in restricted-earnings case The Association will appeal a judgment of almost $67 million in a case involving the restricted-earnings coaching position. A jury awarded $22.3 million to restricted-earnings coaches in men's basketball, baseball and other sports. The verdict amount is automatically trebled under antitrust law to $66.8 million; the NCAA also is required to pay the plaintiffs' attorneys fees. The Association also may have to pay interest. Samuel H. Smith, chair of the NCAA Executive Committee and president of Washington State University, said the Executive Committee made the decision to appeal because it was advised that a number of reversible errors were made by the court during the trial.
Staff contact: Elsa Cole.
NACDAHonda Awards dinner to be conducted in June The Honda Awards dinner , which has been conducted in conjunction with the NCAA Convention every year since 1981, this year will become part of the annual meeting of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). The dinner will be conducted at 7:30 p.m. June 14 at the Marriott Hotel in Marco Island, Florida. Although the primary part of the program is the presentation of the Honda-Broderick Cup, top female student-athletes also are recognized in 11 sports (basketball, cross country, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, and volleyball). At the NACDA convention, former NCAA president James Frank will be presented with that association's top honor, the Corbett Award.
Rules-compliance sessions planned for late May, early June
The second and third of three regional rules-compliance seminars will be conducted May 27-29 at the Hyatt Regency in Dallas and June 10-12 at the Pittsburgh Hilton in Pittsburgh.
Staff contact: Carolayne Henry.
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