MINUTES OF THE

NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

SPORTS SCIENCES SAFETY SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE

COMMITTEE ON COMPETITIVE SAFEGUARDS AND MEDICAL ASPECTS OF SPORTS

The Carolina Inn

June 21-23, 2002

Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Participants:

Amy Barr, Eastern Illinois University

Letha Y. Griffin, Georgia State University

Melinda L. Millard-Stafford, Georgia Institute of Technology

Brian J. Sharkey, University of Montana, chair

Jerry Weber, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Connee Zotos, Drew University

Randall W. Dick, NCAA

Cindy D. Brauck, Missouri Western State College; and Jerry L. Diehl, National Federation of State High School Associations, were not able to attend the meeting.

Lauren Costello, Princeton University; Matt Mitten, Marquette University; Nicole Porter, Shippensburg University; Rochel Rittgers, Augustana College (Illinois); Bryan Smith, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; and Elsa Cole, NCAA, were in attendance for portions of the meeting.

[Note: These minutes contain only actions taken (formal votes or stated “sense of the meeting”) in accordance with NCAA policy regarding minutes of all Association entities. While certain items on the committee’s agenda were acted on at various times throughout the meeting, all final actions within a given topic are combined in these minutes for convenience of reference.]

Friday, June 21

The meeting was called to order at 10:15 a.m. by the chair, Dr. Sharkey. All members were present as noted above.

1. Previous Minutes.

It was VOTED

“That the minutes from the subcommittee’s December 2-4, 2001, meeting be approved as distributed.”

2. Women’s Lacrosse Eye Protection. The subcommittee reviewed and modified the May 20 committee position statement regarding eye protection in women’s lacrosse. The subcommittee agreed that progress toward the committee position was occurring, driven in large part by the national governing body of U.S. Lacrosse and its Sports Science Safety Committee. It noted that the fall testing of wire-based eye protection would be a next big step.

3. Strategic Plan Action Items. The subcommittee reviewed and modified action items in the new strategic plan. It also identified the following items as priority issues requiring the most effort over the next year (“a” = highest urgency):

a. Injury Surveillance System enhancement, out-of-season conditioning, women’s lacrosse eye protection, and emergency care and coverage.

b. The NCAA health and safety Web site and outreach, including regular health and safety presence at the NCAA Convention and the National Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) meetings.

c. The NCAA Sports Medicine Handbook, sport specific issues, concussions and professional development of coaches.

4. NCAA Injury Surveillance System (ISS). The subcommittee addressed the following items:

a. Reviewed winter 2001-02 ISS results and noted that concussions in men’s ice hockey were still a concern.

b. Updated progress on ISS enhancement.

(1) Reviewed August 2002 phase one pilot, confidentiality and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) issues, and future development goals.

(2) Developed further specifications for the NCAA information services staff, including identifying the noninjury components in the basic package that should be a part of the NCAA programming. The pre-participation physical examination, prescription medication logs and rehabilitation treatment logs were identified as components that might be best obtained at the discretion of individual institutions from other vendors. Ideally, such components should be compatible to integrate into the NCAA program.

5. Sport Specific Issues. The subcommittee reviewed the following specific sport safety issues:

a. Wrestling.

(1) Endorsed recommendations from consultants for five days of antiviral treatment for herpes gladitorum skin infection. The subcommittee also supported the concept of a wrestling skin infection panel for further consultation as necessary.

(2) Reviewed recommendations and actions of the NCAA Wrestling Rules Committee.

(3) Reviewed the topic of specific gravity as a measure of hydration in response to the NCAA Wrestling Committee’s request to raise the cut-off value to 1.025. The committee agreed that science exists to justify the current standard of 1.020 and that the recommendation was legally defensible.

(4) Reviewed a specific draft research study and other supporting documents regarding the use of the BOD POD as an appropriate option for body composition measurement in the NCAA weight certification program (WCP). The science in the specific article appears to meet the criteria for consideration of inclusion in the WCP. However, the subcommittee recommended waiting until the manuscript had gone through the complete peer-review process before rendering a final decision. NCAA staff was directed to share with BOD POD representatives issues from both the specific study and a recent review article on the technology. These issues involved outliers in the wrestling study, and outliers and intermachine reliability in the review article.

b. Pole Vault. The subcommittee reviewed and approved safety recommendations from the NCAA Track and Field Committee regarding pole vault pit modifications and the elimination of “tapping” during warm-ups for competition. The subcommittee also recommended asking for the NCAA Track and Field Committee’s opinion regarding mandatory helmet use in this sport.

c. Screening for Spectators in Ice Hockey. The subcommittee discussed the issue of screening for spectators in ice hockey games. Although it agreed screening could minimize the risk of spectator injury, it was not aware of the current risk or other risk management issues. It noted that event management personnel should address this issue.

d. Pitch Restrictions for Softball. The subcommittee reviewed correspondence from Julie Moyer-Knowles concerning pitch limitation in college softball. The subcommittee noted that arm injuries did not seem to be unusually high in collegiate softball and agreed to ask for feedback from the NCAA Softball Committee.

e. Basketball Backboards. The subcommittee reviewed preliminary results from a study conducted by Dr. Smith and colleagues that retrospectively reviewed 14 years of basketball backboard breakage. The information showed that this event is a fairly rare occurrence. This report, coupled with the lack of injuries reported in the NCAA ISS data from backboard collapse, reinforced the subcommittee’s previous stand that lamination of basketball backboards was a good idea but not necessary to mandate from a health and safety standpoint.

[Note: The meeting recessed at 5 p.m.]

Saturday, June 22

The meeting was called to order at 9:15 a.m. All members were present as noted above.

6. Research Issues.

a. Current and completed research. The subcommittee reviewed current research projects and recommended funding for the following 2001-02 projects:

(1) Medical College of Georgia sickle cell trait study ($15,000).

(2) University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill catastrophic injury study ($5,000).

(3) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) prevention study ($5,000).

(4) Wrestling body composition studies at NCAA wrestling championships ($4,000).

(5) Distribution of ACL prevention book to head athletic trainers at NCAA member institutions ($5,000).

(6) Football recovery study monitoring 10-15 football players during double sessions for hydration (specific gravity), fatigue (saliva) and core temperature (ingested telemetry unit) ($25,000).

b. Identification of new funding for 2002-03. The subcommittee identified topics to support with its sports science research dollars for the 2002-03 fiscal year. Specific recommendations included:

(1) ISS enhancement ($25,000).

(2) Redo 1998 emergency care and coverage survey with assistance of the NCAA research staff ($3,000).

(3) North Carolina catastrophic injury study ($5,000).

(4) Wrestling body composition studies at the NCAA wrestling championships ($3,000).

(5) Nutrition and performance education project, if necessary ($10,000).

(6) Football recovery studies, if necessary ($35,000 or as needed).

c. Research study endorsement. The subcommittee reviewed a request from Ed Wojtys, University of Michigan, for endorsement of a proposal being forwarded to the National Institutes of Health for funding consideration. The subcommittee agreed that it was not feasible to develop letters of endorsement for studies not solicited by the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports or the NCAA.

7. Educational Issues.

a. NCAA Sports Medicine Handbook.

(1) The subcommittee updated the following guidelines for the 2002-03 NCAA Sports Medicine Handbook:

(a) Guideline 2f – Eating Disorders to focus on optimal performance, nutrition and body image.

(b) Guideline 2d – Weight Loss- Hypohydration. It was recommended to modify this further in 2003-04 to emphasize hydration.

(d) Guideline 2i – Nontherapeutic Drugs.

(e) Guideline 2o – Concussion and Second-Impact Syndrome.

(f) Guideline 4c – Use of Trampoline and Minitramp.

(g) Guideline 4e – Use of the Head as a Weapon in Football and Other Contact Sports.

(h) Guideline 3a – Participation of the Pregnant Student-Athlete.

(i) Guideline 2c – Heat Illness.

(j) Guideline 2m – Cold Stress.

(k) Guideline 2j – Nutritional Ergogenic Aids.

(2) The subcommittee discussed the possibility of developing a new guideline about exercise-induced asthma. Dr. Smith agreed to assess the current medical information and recommend whether such a guideline was necessary.

(3) The subcommittee reviewed draft revisions of guidelines from the National Federation of State High School’s (NFHS) Sports Medicine Handbook.

b. Health and safety Web site. The subcommittee developed recommendations on how specific information relevant to the subcommittee should be presented on the enhanced NCAA health and safety Web site.