The Division III championships budget is much healthier now than a couple of years ago when an unanticipated large deficit prompted significant reallocation of funding -- and the Division III Championships Committee is demonstrating its intention to keep it that way.

The committee devoted most of its September 22-23 meeting in Indianapolis to reviewing requests from Division III sports committees and establishing priorities for funding of championships in the upcoming two-year budget period.

Judging from the committee's actions, those priorities will continue to include enhancement of championships -- but in an orderly, comprehensive fashion that emphasizes achievement of commitments such as implementation and expansion of automatic qualification, while maintaining the student-athlete experience.

The committee approved several recommendations it believes will be accommodated by anticipated championships funding during the 2004-05/2005-06 budget cycle and beyond -- even after implementation of enhancements that previously have won approval in Division III, as well as anticipated actions such as the possible adoption of automatic qualification in selected individual/team sports.

Those recommendations to the Division III Management Council include a continuation of a trend toward predetermined sites in Division III championships, format changes designed to protect student-athlete welfare and enhance participants' championships experience, and selective funding to address immediate needs in administration and officiating of championships.

However, recognizing there will not be enough funds to accommodate all of the requests received from sports committees, the committee also reviewed several categories of desired enhancements and began determining which will receive funding first -- budget permitting.

Automatic qualification

The development and support of automatic qualification for teams competing in the individual/team sports of tennis, golf and cross country clearly will be a priority in coming years. It was a primary topic of discussion during a separate committee session September 22 involving chairs of Division III individual/
team sports committees.

As a result of that meeting, the committee pledged to recommend proposed legislation for the 2005 Convention that would implement automatic qualification during 2006-07 in those sports. It listed principles the committee will use to guide planning for championships formats under individual/team automatic qualification, including inclusion in each of the championships of one participating team for every 7.5 sponsoring institutions (1:7.5 ratio) while maintaining current access for individual qualifiers. The committee also will seek to ensure equitable access for independent institutions through the "B pool" system.

The committee is requesting that sports committees submit by December 1 outlines of proposed plans for implementing automatic qualification in the affected championships, including bracket sizes based on current sponsorship and addressing all three pools -- A, B and C; formats, including proposed regional competition; and methods for selection of individual competitors.

After receiving the outlines, the NCAA staff will review financial implications of the plans -- resulting in part from anticipated expansion of the championships' fields -- before the Championships Committee's January 20, 2004, meeting. The committee anticipates seeking membership comment on the plans during late winter and early spring of 2004.

Pending a decision on automatic qualification, the committee rejected proposals from the men's and women's golf committees to expand the number of participants in each of the golf championships from 120 to 135.

Consideration of individual/team automatic qualification is part of the Championships Committee's broader ongoing review of championships field sizes and brackets. The committee's plans to broaden that effort and study three championships not previously touched by that review also prompted rejection of another bracket-expansion proposal, this one in wrestling.

The committee decided not to support a proposal from the Division III Wrestling Committee to increase the field from 160 to 200 individual qualifiers. The committee noted that aspects of that championship will be reviewed in the future along with the swimming and diving, and track and field championships.

Sites and formats

A trend toward predetermined sites for Division III championships continued as the committee agreed to recommend selection of a finals site for women's volleyball and an increase from two to five such sites for baseball regionals, effective in 2004-05. The committee also reaffirmed an earlier decision to consider selection of finals sites for the 2004 men's and women's soccer championships, and approved selection of predetermined finals sites for men's ice hockey for three years beginning in 2006.

The Division III women's volleyball and men's and women's soccer committees are being asked to recommend specific sites and submit proposed budgets for those finals sites at the Championships Committee's January meeting.

In actions involving championships formats, the committee approved recommendations to revise the format of the soccer championships by replacing eight regional semifinals currently played during the first weekend of the tournament (and currently followed by four regional finals) with second-round games at 16 sites. Those 16 matches would be followed during the tournament's second weekend with "sectionals" at four sites involving the 16 second-round winners.

Among the committees' reasons for the recommendation is a desire to eliminate requiring teams to play three matches in the first four or five days of the tournament (beginning with first-round matches on the Wednesday before the tournaments' first weekend).

The committee, however, declined to support a recommendation to establish an eight-team final in women's volleyball. While the committee agrees that eight-team finals create a desirable championship environment and student-athlete experience, it believes that Division III currently is not financially able to host eight teams at a final in any sport, including volleyball. The volleyball championship currently features a four-team final.

Budget priorities

Because of uncertainty about availability of funding, the committee tabled consideration of several other sports committee recommendations with budgetary implications, including recommendations for increases in per diem for championships participants, fees and per diem for officials, and increases in travel squad size.

In hopes of approving at least some of those recommendations, the committee established priorities for funding and agreed to first address needs that affect all sports and are "cyclical" in nature, or reoccur during each budget cycle.

As a result, the committee agreed that its first priority if funds are available will be an increase in the per diem for championships participants. The committee wishes to increase the current per diem of $60 to $65 during the 2004-05/2005-06 cycle, and ultimately to increase the per diem to $70 during the following two-year cycle.

The committee's second priority will be to increase officials' fees and per diem.

It also listed other categories for funding that the committee agrees it wishes to address. Those areas include per diem for championships participants who must remain at a championships site after completion of those participants' competition; increases in the size of travel parties that generally would result in funding for five individuals accompanying a team, including coaches and staff members; and enhancement of participation awards presented to championships contestants.

Other highlights

Division III Championships Committee
September 22-23/Indianapolis

Joined the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet and Division II Championships Committee in approving moving the three-point line for men's and women's basketball back to 20 feet, 6 ¹/4 inches, and in denying a recommendation to establish a trapezoid-shaped free-throw lane.

Joined Divisions I and II in supporting a recommendation by the Division I Women's Lacrosse Committee to establish an NCAA rules committee in the sport.

Discussed criteria for use by sports committees in selection of championship sites, including ensuring that opportunities to host championships rotate regularly through all regions in which institutions sponsor a championship sport. The committee also discussed limits on awarding championships to sites that are outside of regions where the sport is sponsored or geographically remote from a large number of sponsoring institutions, and expressed a consensus that such sites should be selected no more than once in a four-year period. The committee agreed to continue discussion of the criteria during its January 2004 meeting.

Joined Divisions I and II in approving Sacramento, California, as the site for the 2004 and 2005 Divisions I, II and III Women's Rowing Championships, noting that the competition site provides an outstanding experience for student-athletes. The committee, however, expressed concerns about the share of expenses that will be borne by Division III at a site that is geographically remote from most institutions in the division that sponsor rowing, and noted that an adjustment will be required in the rowing championships budget to cover costs related to the site. In a separate action, the committee approved the addition of two at-large Eight boats to the Division III field.

Approved Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida, as the site for the 2005 Division III Men's Golf Championships, noting that despite the site's geographically remote location, expenses are not expected to be significantly higher than for recent championships and that the central Florida location provides an excellent student-athlete experience.

Approved three sites for future women's lacrosse championships: St. John Fisher College in 2004, The College of New Jersey in 2005 and Stevens Institute of Technology in 2006.

Approved Raleigh, North Carolina, as the site for the 2005 and 2006 softball championships, with Peace College serving as host institution.

Approved Lewiston, Maine, as the site for the 2004 men's tennis championships, with Bates College serving as host institution, and approved Kalamazoo, Michigan, as the site for the 2005 championships, with Kalamazoo College serving as host.

Approved Millikin University as the site of the 2004 outdoor track and field championships, replacing a previously selected site that will be unable to host the championships due to facility problems.

Agreed to recommend reimbursing institutions participating in championships for ground transportation mileage of less than 50 miles, including the distance between the institution and the departure airport, and also between the arrival airport and championship site.

Recommended a revision of Bylaw 31.2 to establish August 15 as the date by which institutions that are joint NCAA/National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics members must declare that they will participate in NCAA championships, effective in 2004-05. The committee is seeking to reduce the impact of late declarations on requirements to schedule competition against NCAA championships-eligible teams.