The NCAA News - News and Features

June 1, 1998

NCAA CHAMPS/Life Skills program applications mailed

Applications for the NCAA CHAMPS/Life Skills program, which in previous years were due in December, this year will be due June 30.

New participants will be notified of their acceptance this summer and will be asked to attend an orientation next February. Participants who were notified of their acceptance in January will take part in orientation this summer. They will be the last to do so under the old time line.

A change in the timing of the program's orientation necessitated a change in the application process, said Lori A. Hendricks, NCAA education outreach program coordinator.

"We wanted to connect the orientation with our annual continuing education conference," Hendricks said.

"It made more sense to combine our efforts and focus our energies. We're also finding that the institutions coming on board with CHAMPS/Life Skills already have strong student-athlete support programs. This way, whether those participating individuals are novices or veterans, there's programming available for them."

CHAMPS/Life Skills now has more than 200 NCAA member institutions participating. There is an increased emphasis on expanding the program to include more Divisions II and III members, Hendricks said.

"We're really trying to do a better job of recruiting Division II and III institutions," Hendricks said. "We've asked the conference offices to support Life Skills and to help make people aware of the program.

"We've also asked conference representatives to attend the orientation sessions to find out how they can support what's going on at the institutional level. It's important that the conferences understand what Life Skills is all about."

CHAMPS/Life Skills is a program that is designed to help student-athletes realize higher academic achievement; increased likelihood of retention, graduation and entering a chosen profession; and a higher level of maturity, self-responsibility and greater overall success. "It's all about teaching transitions," Hendricks said of the program.

The focus of the program is on five commitments that are viewed as critical to personal growth: academic excellence, athletics excellence, personal development, service and career development.

Each commitment addresses specific topic areas in-depth. For example, the academic commitment focuses on topics such as study skills, goal-setting and time management. The personal development commitment highlights diversity education, prevention of addictive behaviors, fiscal responsibility and stress management.

Participants in the program are given instructional materials addressing all five of the commitment areas, along with supplemental resources such as software, videotapes and posters. Model programs from institutions with a proven track record of success in that particular area of emphasis also are provided.

The CHAMPS/Life Skills program is administered out of the education services group of the NCAA national office and supported through the promotional and financial efforts of the NCAA Foundation and the Division I-A Athletic Directors' Association. Corporations that have an interest in athletics, education and personal development are partners in the effort. As such, participation in the program is free to participating institutions, which need only pay the cost of sending institutional staff members to the orientation and continuing education sessions.

Institutions are encouraged to make the most of facilities and programs that already exist on their campuses, incorporating student-athletes wherever possible.

"Life Skills is not isolationist," Hendricks pointed out. "I think some schools are afraid that Life Skills will separate out the student-athletes."

Separation is not the point. Instead, the Life Skills program recognizes that student-athletes do not have enough opportunities to experience life as part of the general student population. Services and facilities that other students take advantage of, such as those provided by campus career centers, may be able to serve student-athletes as well, simply by making the services available during times when student-athletes are not in practice or mandatory study hall, for example.

"Life Skills is actually a move toward integration and interdependence," Hendricks said, pointing out that institutions are free to share the materials with the rest of their student body. "For example, Life Skills has a strong diversity education piece that many campuses have shared with their multicultural centers."

Hendricks also said that CHAMPS/Life Skills is a resource that can benefit the entire athletics department.

"It provides resources and a network of support for individuals who are tending to student-athlete's needs," she said. "It takes a significant commitment, but the benefits are worth it."