Coalition critical of Paige commission recommendations

The National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education (NCWGE) has aired its objections to the preliminary recommendations of the Secretary's Commission on Opportunity in Athletics, the panel appointed by U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige.

The commission, which has been examining Title IX implementation, is expected to issue final recommendations to the Department of Education later this winter.

NCWGE representatives said in a December 19 news conference that all of the preliminary recommendations would significantly weaken Title IX, and they also criticized the commission's composition and process.

"This will have devastating consequences for many girls and women across the country," said Jocelyn Samuels, vice-president of the National Women's Law Center. "Some of the changes that are on the table would violate fundamental principles of civil-rights law."

Other speakers during the press conference included the moderator, Jacqueline Woods, from the American Association of University Women; Nancy Hogshead-Makar, an attorney, Olympic champion and assistant professor of law at the Florida Coastal School of Law; Athena Yiamouyiannis, executive director of the National Association for Girls and Women in Sports; Christine Grant, former women's athletics director at the University of Iowa and now an associate professor of physical education; and Andrew Zimbalist, author and professor of economics at Smith College.

Yiamouyiannis noted that 10 of the commission's 15 members come from Division I-A institutions.

"There were no representatives from Division II or III, none from junior colleges and none from high-school athletics programs, even though the commission is charged with reviewing the regulations for all those entities," Yiamouyiannis said. "The Department of Education has clearly stacked the deck from the start with individuals representing the wealthier, more powerful institutions, who have a vested interest in weakening the law in order to comply."

Department of Education officials were unavailable for comment.

For additional details on the commission's work, see the December 23 issue of The NCAA News.

For additional details about the NCWGE's objections to the commission, see the organization's Web site at www.ncwge.org.

Coaching workshop announced for April

The Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) is hosting a two-day workshop for minority female basketball players who are interested in pursuing a career in coaching.

This program -- "So you want to be a coach?" -- will be April 5-6 in Atlanta at the 22nd annual WBCA national convention held in conjunction with the NCAA Women's Final Four.

The program is made possible by a grant from the NCAA and is aimed at minority women's basketball players who will complete their eligibility by April 3, 2003.

The workshop will be an intensive program that will introduce young women to coaching. Topics introduced at the workshop include recruiting, media, coaching contracts and NCAA rules.

Nominations are due by January 15. Contact the WBCA for nomination forms and additional information.

Leadership Conference deadline approaches

Do you have some potential leaders among your student-athletes? If so, start preparing your institutional application for the NCAA Leadership Conference.

The 7th annual conference will be May 25-29 at Walt Disney World's Coronado Springs Resort and Wide World of Sports omplex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

Nominations must be postmarked by February 3.

Institutions must nominate four student-athletes -- two women and two men.

To be eligible to have a student-athlete selected, an institution must nominate at least one man and one woman who are ethnic minorities or international student-athletes or ethnic minorities.

Nominees must have eligibility remaining in the 2003-04 academic year, must have participated in an NCAA-sponsored sport during the 2002-03 academic year, and must be in good academic standing.

Qualified nomination forms will be reviewed by the NCAA Leadership Conference Selection Committee, and participants will be notified by April 10 of their selection.

For more information, contact the NCAA at 317/917-6222.

-- Compiled by Kay Hawes

Number crunching

Looking back

Division III grid glory

The first Division III Football Championship held in 1973 was a ball for Wittenberg University. That's because Tigers quarterback Lloyd Ball scored on four short runs to lead his team to a 41-0 win over Juniata College in Phenix City, Alabama.

Ball's short quarterback keepers came after he directed the Tigers on otherwise lengthy scoring drives. He completed eight of 13 passes for 178 yards to balance the Tigers' rushing attack, which compiled 220 yards. Wittenberg running backs Doug Jacobs, Glenn Hendrix and Dave Johnson each rushed for more than 50 yards.

As efficient as the Tigers' offense was, Wittenberg's defense kept Juniata's offense at bay. Juniata gained just 238 yards and totaled 15 first downs.

Wittenberg's leading receiver was tight end Lowell Harper, who caught three Ball passes for 103 yards, including a 46-yarder to the one-yard line, after which Ball scored.

Juniata was led by quarterback Gary Shope, the school's No. 2 all-time career offense leader, who was 10 of 26 for 139 yards. One of Shope's completions was a 55-yarder to Rick Rudolph. That duo had combined earlier in the season for a 99-yard scoring strike.

Wittenberg, which finished the season 12-0, reached the title game with a 21-14 win over the University of San Diego. Juniata (10-2) won the other semifinal game, 35-14, over the University of Bridgeport.