The NCAA News - News and Features

August 17, 1998

Board amends Sunday competition legislation

Presidents also tab Shaw to chair task force

CHICAGO -- The Division I Board of Directors amended legislation regarding Sunday compe-

tition during its August 11 meeting and thus averted what would have been Division I's first override vote since the Association restructured in August 1997.

The amendment modifying Proposal No. 98-32 allows schools with written policies against competition on a particular day for religious reasons to have their needs accommodated while establishing a waiver process for a sports committee to appeal the rule if it believes the success of the championship might be compromised.

Specifically, the Board's amendment specifies that if a participating institution has a written policy against competition on a particular day for religious reasons, it shall inform the governing sports committee before the beginning of the championship in order for it or one of its student-athletes to be excused from competing on that day.

The championship schedule shall be adjusted to accommodate that institution, and the team or individual competitor will not be required to compete before the time originally scheduled.

However, if a sports committee concludes that accommodating an institution's policy would unduly disrupt the orderly conduct of the championship, the committee could request a waiver of the rule from the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet before the selection of the championship field. A majority vote of the cabinet would be required for approval.

The original legislation that the Board passed in April eliminated the requirement that a championship schedule had to be adjusted to accommodate institutions with policies against Sunday competition.

Many requested override

That action generated 99 requests from the Division I membership to override adoption of the legislation -- one shy of the total necessary to suspend the legislation but more than enough to require the Board to revisit the issue and to schedule an override vote at the 1999 Convention if no change was made.

After membership reaction was provided, the Championships/Competition Cabinet and the Division I Management Council both reaffirmed their position that the policy regarding Sunday competition should be eliminated. Had the Board not modified its stance, an override vote of the active members of Division I would have taken place at the 1999 Convention in San Antonio.

The Board believes the amended proposal reaches a compromise in that schools with policies against competing on a particular day for religious reasons can be accommodated while allowing sports committees an opportunity to obtain relief if such accommodation would adversely affect the success of the event.

"Our concern in April was that Sunday was just one of the days that could be important to schools with religious beliefs that might prohibit their competition," said Kenneth A. Shaw, chancellor of Syracuse University and chair of the Board. "In that regard, the old rule didn't accommodate all of our membership.

"But we heard clearly that the membership is concerned about preserving its principles and beliefs. This action gets Sunday out of the issue, while still acknowledging schools that may have written policies that need to be accommodated."

The new version of Proposal No. 98-32 will be distributed to the membership for comment, and though the override vote on the original Proposal No. 98-32 no longer will be necessary, the new action is subject to an override vote if at least 30 requests are received before the comment period expires.

Championships issues

The Board acted on two other major issues involving championships expansion and items related to Division I basketball.

The Board approved expansion in five Division I sports, including baseball (from 48 to 64 teams), men's and women's cross country (from 184 to 255 individuals), women's soccer (from 32 to 48 teams), women's softball (from 32 to 48 teams) and women's volleyball (from 56 to 64 teams).

In addition, during its review of the proposed Division I operating budget, the Board agreed to support the funding of the bracket expansion, as well as the championships enhancements and the increase in women's basketball officials per diem requested by the Championships/Competition Cabinet and endorsed by the Management Council.

The Board, however, stipulated that such funding must be achieved through the reallocation of funds currently budgeted for Division I championships expenses and/or other available funds. The Board forwarded its recommendations regarding these funding issues to the Executive Committee for consideration.

The Board also acted on a proposal put forth by the Management Council for the creation of a task force to undertake a broad-based study of basketball issues in Division I.

In its discussion, the Board appointed Shaw chair of the task force. Shaw then stepped aside as chair of the Board to give full attention to this project, and the Board appointed Graham B. Spanier, president of Pennsylvania State University, to complete Shaw's term as chair of the Board through January 1999.

The Board also asked its members to submit nominations for presidential involvement on the task force that also might include members of the Management Council, the basketball committees, coaches and high-school representatives, among others.

The task force will study issues related to basketball, including the summer recruiting calendar, early departure of student-athletes for professional careers and freshman eligibility rules.

Legislation

Several legislative proposals to amend administrative and executive regulations that were forwarded from the Management Council were approved by the Board, including Proposal 98-81, which reduces from eight to two years the waiting period for new Division I members to be eligible to represent their conference as the automatic qualifier to the Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

The Board, however, defeated Proposal No. 98-85, which would have prevented more than one team from any Division I-A conference from participating in a preseason exempted football event during any given academic year.

The Board had initially eliminated Bylaw 30.10.2.10 in April and requested further review of the issue because there was conflicting information about the application of the legislation to the 1997 preseason games. The Championships/Competition Cabinet and the Management Council subsequently recommended that the Board reinstate the rule.

Other legislative actions taken by the Board included approval of the remaining amendments to administrative and executive regulations, and six proposals that had been approved for a second time by the Management Council (see Management Council story, page 6).

The Board also adopted "emergency" noncontroversial legislation to adopt Proposal Nos. 98-76 through 98-79 regarding playing and practice seasons in women's water polo, women's ice hockey and men's basketball; and regarding the expansion of the Championships/Competition Cabinet's oversight responsibility for playing rules.

In other actions, the Board: