REPORT OF THE

JUNE 2007 REPORT OF THE

NCAA COMMITTEE ON SPORTSMANSHIP AND ETHICAL CONDUCT

ACTION ITEMS.

None.

INFORMATIONAL ITEMS.

Association-wide

1. Mission statement. The committee reviewed and affirmed the mission statement.

2. Review of report of November meeting. The committee reviewed the November meeting report and suggested that a sentence be added to Item No. 12 indicating increased hazing education geared toward student-athletes through the Regional Leadership Conferences.

3. Sportsmanship meetings/conferences.

a. June 2007 NACDA Sportsmanship panel discussion. The committee received a report from the members who planned to attend the 2007 NACDA Sportsmanship Panel Discussion. Issues to be discussed include the face of sportsmanship from a psychological standpoint (e.g., trends, why people behave in certain ways) and best practices employed by member institutions.

b. 2008 NCAA Convention presentation. The committee discussed the format and substance of the pending Association-wide hazing session scheduled for the 2008 NCAA Convention.

c. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Think Tank. Co-sponsored by NCLR (National Center for Lesbian Rights) and the NCAA, the committee received an update on the work of the group.

d. Division II game environment hearing. This hearing stems from the new Division II campaign "I chose Division II" and will be held in Washington D.C. July 22. The purpose of the hearing is to address issues that could result from the attempt to engage the community in athletics events. Organizers are bringing a diverse group of panelists to the hearing, including game administrators, cheerleader representatives, pep band representatives. It is believed that recommendations on how to handle situations and provide a positive game environment will be forthcoming after the hearing.

e. Other opportunities for sportsmanship presentations. The committee discussed how representatives could present to other conventions/meetings, including conference meetings, law enforcement and student affairs organizations, to discuss how athletics departments can work with student affairs groups on sportsmanship issues. Furthermore, the committee decided to compile a list of potential speakers on sportsmanship and game management that the membership could use as a reference.

4. Review of committee’s action plan. The staff reviewed the action plan with the committee.

5. Playing rules committee reports. Ty Halpin of the playing rules staff shared a report with the committee on playing rules committee assignments and those sports that have non-NCAA rules sources. The committee requested staff to enhance referee/official education on sportsmanship. Furthermore, the committee asked the oversight committee to review the following:

a. Carding penalties related to varying levels of yellow/red cards.

b. Standard language promoting sportsmanship in all sports to be read prior to the start of the game.

c. Possible explanation/definition of what unsporting behavior means relative to taunting. Define what taunting looks like and other actions that usually lead to fighting and then encourage them to find ways to support referees/umpires.

The committee also made note that it wanted to continue to dialogue with the playing rules representatives.

6. Sportsmanship initiative from branding and communications staff. The committee received a report from JoJo Rinebold and Paula Buckhaulter from the branding and communications staff regarding the committee’s request for assistance on a division-wide sportsmanship awareness campaign. The staff discussed how to position sportsmanship for messaging and activation and requested assistance from the committee on developing the message. The committee believed that due to the differences in the collegiate and professional model of sports, a different model needs to be used. The committee noted that in the collegiate model, education plays a huge role, and it may be necessary to better define good and bad sportsmanship. Targeted groups would include fans, cheerleaders, mascots, student-athletes, parents, etc. The committee believed that there was a sustained commitment to sportsmanship within the Association, and with the influx of initiatives taking place, requested the staff to assist with a unified approach. The branding and communications staff agreed to bring a plan to the November committee meeting for committee review.

The staff also discussed measurement techniques so that once an awareness initiative has been launched, a measurement tool would be in place to assess effectiveness.

7. Sportsmanship survey results. The committee reviewed the results of a spring 2006 online sportsmanship survey of the membership. Across all divisions, fans represented the greatest sportsmanship concern. All divisions identified serving as good hosts and controlling fan behavior as ways to improve visiting teams’ experience. Each division’s respondents identified the director of athletics as the top individual responsible for setting the expectation of good sportsmanship.

8. Subcommittee breakouts.

a. Strategic planning.

(1) Coaches associations. The subcommittee developed possible ideas for use by coaches associations. The subcommittee wanted to emphasize the importance of coaches being involved with crowd control because many times, too much responsibility is placed on an official, and the subcommittee believed that the fans may actually respond better to the coach. The staff shared an update of the AFCA sportsmanship initiative request for ideas, and the subcommittee discussed how to get buy-in from all coaches associations. Some of the possible ideas for use by coaches associations included:

(a) Educational opportunity in alumni magazines or school newspapers where the coach can provide students and alumni with some suggestions for things that would be considered acceptable/unacceptable behavior during a contest.

(b) Establishing a fan code of conduct.

(d) The subcommittee believed it could be beneficial to find a corporate sponsor to attach to sportsmanship initiatives. Shoe/apparel companies were mentioned as a possible sponsor that student-athletes might attach to. Former student-athletes who are very identifiable were also suggested.

(e) Including sportsmanship components on the coaches’ certification test.

(2) Survey.

(a) The subcommittee further discussed the development of a survey that would measure the results of a branding initiative. The committee noted that there were different measurements of sportsmanship; specifically, measuring the number of penalties/red cards/ejections, etc. vs. measuring progress on educational initiatives. The committee suggested that the survey not use the word "sportsmanship" in the survey.

(b) The subcommittee agreed to ask the research staff to establish a bi-annual survey to measure support for sportsmanship and include the following groups:

(i) Coaches.

(ii) Athletics directors.

(iii) Student-athletes.

(iv) Parents.

(v) Fans (season-ticket holders, friends of the program, donors, etc.).

(c) The subcommittee discussed possible next steps and decided to wait for the recommendations of the branding and communications staff at the November meeting and then choose initiatives to implement. Once the initiatives have been launched, the subcommittee agreed to try to determine a reasonable time frame to implement the survey in order to measure the results. The subcommittee also discussed working with outside organizations/associations on next steps after the initiatives have been proposed:

(i) National Association of Basketball Coaches.

(ii) American Football Coaches Association.

(iii) College Commissioners Association.

(iv) NCAA Division II Management Council.

(v) NCAA Division III Management Council.

(vi) NCAA Division I Management Council.

(vii) National Student-Athlete Advisory Committees.

(viii) Corporate Partners.

b. Accountability. The subcommittee reviewed data provided by the playing rules staff detailing each sport's penalties for prescribed conduct. As a result, the subcommittee identified the following areas for review:

(1) The subcommittee suggests that all sports adopt a statement in the individual sport’s rulebook noting its commitment to sportsmanship. The subcommittee references football’s statement on page 15 of the 2006 Rules Book.

(2) The subcommittee plans to work with the rules committees to identify actions/behaviors that lead to fighting (e.g., taunting, foul language, pushing, etc.) and address those actions before they escalate to fighting.

(3) The subcommittee is recommending that women’s lacrosse consider adopting a penalty for fighting. The subcommittee reviewed every sport's penalties and noted that women’s lacrosse should consider an established penalty.

(4) The subcommittee is recommending that men’s and women’s soccer consider requiring that yellow cards include an explanation for the issuance to assist in tracking of incidents and, more importantly, to provide an educational opportunity for the student-athlete.

9. Divisional reports.

a. Division I. The committee noted that it has been very helpful to have the Management Council representative attend the committee meeting and intends to explore changing the representative’s status to a voting committee member.

b. Division II. Currently, the community engagement and awareness initiative is the focus for Division II. It was noted that sportsmanship directly intersects with that initiative through the game environment hearing that will be held in July. It was also noted that Division II members have spent the last two years analyzing their identity and have developed a hexagon that includes sportsmanship as one of its attributes.

c. Division III. The Fan Sportsmanship Program is in its first year. This program focuses on three areas: education, game management policy and enforcement; and requests Division III institutions to sign a pledge. Over 80 percent signed on the first year, and it is believed that will increase to over 90 percent this fall. It was noted that this program was an area of high need and high interest in the Division III membership. Also noted was the Division III Foul Conduct Program, currently in its fourth year of existence within the division. Participation rates included 100 percent participation in ice hockey and 85 percent in basketball. The program was first created for the Empire 8 Conference to raise the level of awareness around sporting behavior and was then adopted nationally. The program provides tangible data on sporting behavior and can be tracked real time so that the institution/conference can be proactive in correcting behaviors as they occur. This year, over 50 percent of the participating institutions track real time, and numbers of incidents are decreasing dramatically as a result. The program is offered in sports that are considered to be at a higher risk for those types of infractions (e.g. soccer, basketball, ice hockey, lacrosse and baseball/softball).

10. Budget initiatives. The staff explained to the committee that a new budget cycle was approaching, and thus any initiatives that would require additional funding should be identified. The staff noted that the sportsmanship awareness campaign would require significant financial support.

The committee also discussed the following ideas that would likely have budget implications:

a. Attempt to implement a program whereby members of the committee would outreach to different conference offices to try to engage those members in a sportsmanship discussion (mini-"Sportsmanship Seminars.") The committee discussed trying to spend the next year working out a plan on the best way to target Divisions I, II and III. It was suggested that the committee send a letter from the chair of the committee to the conferences offering to attend a meeting to discuss sportsmanship concerns and how to address them. The committee requested the staff to include in the budget request a line item for targeted means for interacting with conferences, faculty athletics representatives, athletics directors and senior woman administrators.

b. Replacing posters with banners that could be hung at outdoor events that would be more visible to the fans. It was noted that Division II had some success with a banner that it produced and distributed this year.

c. Engaging in National Sportsmanship Day.

11. Hazing initiatives. The committee reviewed the hazing seminar currently being prepared for the 2008 Convention. The committee also discussed the issue of gang involvement/participation and whether the committee should have oversight of that issue. The committee noted that although important, gang violence was not something that it believed fell within its purview and suggested that if there are sports where this issue is more prominent, that it should be taken to the respective sport committees.

12. Best practices related to addressing alcohol use before, during and after athletics events. The committee reviewed the best practices related to addressing alcohol use before, during, and after athletics events.

13. Sports wagering update.

a. Bylaw 10.3. The staff provided an update of Proposal 2006-17-A and 2006-17-B.

b. Sports wagering newsletter. The staff provided an update of the sports wagering newsletter and requested guest columnists and nominations of institutions for special recognition.

c. Gambling Venue Language. The committee voted to propose similar policy language as adopted by Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Committees regarding NCAA championships venue language in order to make it uniform for all NCAA championships. Specifically, the committee requested the Championships/Competition Cabinet and the Division II and Division III Championships Committees to consider the following:

"No session of an NCAA championship may be conducted in a metropolitan area with legal wagering that is based upon the outcome of any event (i.e., high school, college or professional) in a sport in which the NCAA conducts a championship."