Members of the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Committees will continue to look for ways to enhance the fan and student-athlete experiences at their combined championship.

The committees from all three divisions met July 31-August 2 in Indianapolis.

The groups did agree to eliminate the press conferences traditionally held on Friday before the championship banquet. Committee members believe the media interacts with the players and the coaches during the week before the event, which makes the press conference unnecessary. Eliminating the conference also relieves pressure on student-athletes who are expected to practice, attend the press conference and the banquet all on the same day.

Division I also decided to move its coaches meeting, typically held between the press conference and the banquet, to Thursday. Divisions II and III will not move their Friday coaches meeting.

Committee members said they were pleased with the 2006 championship in Philadelphia, which again broke attendance records. They also applauded the performance of University of Virginia goalkeeper Kip Turner, who spoke on behalf of all of the student-athletes at the championship banquet. This year was the first in which the committee selected one student-athlete to speak at the event.

The committees will continue to examine start times for the Sunday games. Members believe that 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. are ideal both for television exposure and the opportunity to include more activities on the day of the championship. Officials will continue to discuss the issue with CSTV.

The committees plan to seek bids for the 2009, 2010 and 2011 championship events in January 2008. The 2007 championship will be in Baltimore, the site of the first combined championship in 2002. Boston will host the 2008 event.

• Division I selected the America East Conference, the Colonial Athletic Association, the Ivy Group, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and the Patriot League as automatic-qualifying conferences for the 2007 championship. More conferences may be added at a later time. All automatic-qualification recommendations must be approved by the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet.
• Division II recommended that the Championships Committee approve modified selection criteria for the 2007 championship. Committee members recommended that only games against Division II opponents be considered when making selections. It also recommended adding results against common opponents. The committee also adjusted its criteria for selecting teams that are tied to all other criteria. In that category, the committee recommended removing results against non-Division II opponents and results against the top 10 teams on the schedule. They recommended adding results against teams already selected.
• Division III selected the following conferences for automatic qualification for the 2007 championship: Capital Athletic, Centennial, Commonwealth Coast, Little East, New England Small College Athletic, Old Dominion Athletic, Pennsylvania Athletic, State University of New York Athletic, North Atlantic and Skyline Conferences; Empire 8; Liberty League; Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Corporation; and Pilgrim League. The committee also recommended that Haverford College head coach Mike Murphy be named chair.