|
|
|
|
NCAA News Release
|
Division III Approves Automatic Qualification In Golf And Tennis, Among Other Action At 2005 NCAA National Convention
|
For Immediate Release
Friday, January 14, 2005
|
Contact(s)
Jennifer Kearns
Associate Director of Public and Media Relations 317/917-6117
|
|
GRAPEVINE, Texas---Golf and tennis student-athletes in Division III will now have broader access to championships following the approval of automatic qualification to individuals and teams in those sports at the NCAA Convention.
It is the first time the Division III membership has approved automatic qualification in sports where participants compete for both individual and team championships. Division III already permits conference champions in team sports such as football, basketball, volleyball and soccer.
Automatic qualification in golf and tennis supports the Division III philosophy that primary emphasis should be placed on regular, in-season conference and regional competition. The proposal allows for awarding berths to teams that win conference golf and championship titles.
Those championships will continue to invite selected individual competitors who are not members of qualifying teams.
It also promotes the concept that equitable access to NCAA championships should be provided for conference members and independent institutions, and it is in line with the Division III goal of treating championship access for student-athletes in team and individual-team sports more consistently.
The proposal will become effective Aug. 1, 2006, to allow enough time to alter the existing golf and tennis championship structure and to address the budgetary impact of the proposal.
In other business, the Division III membership:
- Approved a proposal to permit limited skill instruction during the currently permitted five-week spring conditioning and strength-training period in football. Teams will now be permitted to use a football during this period and participate in passing-, catching- and kicking-related drills. The proposal was submitted by the American Southwest Conference and New Jersey Athletic Conference and becomes effective immediately.
- Defeated a proposal by the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference to reinstate an out-of-season exception in gymnastics and permit coaches to be present during student-athletes' voluntary workouts.
- Adopted a proposal that exempts the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association national championship from an institution's declared playing-season limitation. The proposal was submitted by the Division III Presidents Council (Management Council, Playing and Practices Subcommittee) and is effective August 1.
- Adopted a proposal to permit an institution flexibility to schedule one exempted alumni contest during the nontraditional or traditional season in baseball, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball and women's volleyball. The proposal was submitted by the Empire 8 and becomes effective August 1.
- The Division III business session also featured reports on the NCAA Sports Wagering Task Force, implementation of a new financial aid electronic reporting process and the establishment of a package of new and existing educational programs for the division's 421 active members.
Also at convention, the Division III Presidents Council endorsed plans to implement a financial aid electronic reporting process. The reporting process, which was approved at the 2004 Convention as part of the "Future of Division III" reform package, requires that schools annually submit data to the NCAA for use in analyzing whether student-athletes and general students are receiving comparable financial aid, as required by legislation.
Among the steps approved by the Council is the implementation of a model proposed by the Division III Financial Aid and Awards Committee that establishes a maximum permissible "variance" between aid for student-athletes and general students. Instances where aid award by an institution to student-athletes exceeds aid for the broader student body by four percent or more will be subject to a financial aid committee review, which may include a subsequent request for the institution to justify that variance.
The primary purpose of the process is to ensure that institutions monitor their own compliance with Division III financial aid rules; however, institutions that are unable to justify exceeding the permissible variance ultimately could be subject to NCAA enforcement proceedings.
More than half of Division III's members participated in pilot testing of the reporting process, and results from that testing were used to establish the variance figure. All Division III institutions will be required to report data beginning this year, during a reporting period beginning July 1 and ending September 30.
Division III membership also met to participate in roundtable discussions and begin to focus on specific questions about membership growth and diversity, among other topics, from the "Future of Division III � Phase II" membership survey.
"I was particularly pleased with the animated and robust discussions which took place during the Forum on the Future of D-III," said Phil Stone, chair, Division III Presidents Council and president, Bridgewater College. "Our envisioning and planning will be enhanced by such broad-based and energetic participation. I look forward to the next steps in the national conversation."
"Colleagues attending the Future of Division III-Phase II roundtables engaged in energized conversations about the future direction of the Division," said Suzanne Coffey, chair, Division III Management Council and director of athletics, Bates College. "There was a good deal of electricity in the room as the members discussed and debated our next steps. Clearly the membership is really pleased to be so intensely involved in the discussion surrounding our future."
They discussed those results and offered a wide variety of suggestions for dealing with such specific issues as protecting championships access, providing broad opportunities for athletics participation, supporting academic performance by student-athletes, preserving the role of athletics in campus life, and promoting institutions' ability to compete against other schools that are similar in approach and commitment to sports.
Those discussions resulted in the suggestion by some participants that most challenges facing Division III can be addressed effectively � so long as institutions operate athletics programs within the division's existing philosophies. The survey indicated continuing broad support for those tenets.
The many comments and suggestions gathered during the January 9 forum will be reviewed during the next few weeks by members of the Division III Presidents and Management Councils as they begin considering next steps in the Phase II initiative. Discussion also will involve Division III's recently formed virtual focus groups, and additional dialogue will be encouraged at the institutional and conference levels. Proposed legislation resulting from the initiative, if any, would be considered at the 2006 Convention.
Division III boasts 421 active and 12 provisional members which include 137,754 student-athletes. To be a Division III member, institutions must sponsor at least five sports for men and five sports for women, with two team sports for each gender, and each playing season represented by each gender. There are minimum contest and participant minimums for each sport.
Division III athletics features student-athletes who receive no financial aid related to their athletic ability and athletic departments are staffed and funded like any other department in the university. Division III athletics departments place special importance on the impact of athletics on the participants rather than on the spectators. The student-athlete's experience is of paramount concern. Division III athletics encourages participation by maximizing the number and variety of athletics opportunities available to students, placing primary emphasis on regional in-season and conference competition.
|
|
