Male Practice Players
Current Status in Divisions I, II and III
In
April, the Division II Management Council agreed to seek input on the issue of
male practice players, based on a request received from the Committee on
Women's Athletics. Both Divisions I
and III agreed to seek input from their governance and membership groups. The following provides a status on the
issue of male practice players in each of the divisions.
Division II
The
Division II Management Council discussed the use of male practice players,
based on feedback and reaction received from the Committee on Women's
Athletics, the Division II Project Team to Review Issues Related to Diversity
and the Management Council/Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Summit (comments
from summit found in Attachment A). The Management Council believes that
male practice players should not deprive or take away opportunities for female
student-athletes to learn, improve and participate fully in intercollegiate
athletics. Further, the Management
Council agreed that, based on feedback received, it is unclear to what extent
male practice players are being used in Division II. The Management Council agreed to work
with conference offices to determine the extent to which male practice players
are used, in order to determine the appropriate next steps. The Management Council believes that the
student-athlete voice and input on this issue are critical. Additionally, the Management Council
agreed that the Division II membership needs to be educated on the current
regulations/legislation (e.g., certification of eligibility) on the use male
practice players.
The
Division II governance staff is working with the Division I governance staff to
develop questions/survey that will be used to seek feedback on the issue of
male practice players from the Division II membership. Further, the Division II Student-Athlete
Advisory Committee will continue its discussions of male practice players at
its meeting in November.
Additionally, the Championships Committee referred the issue of male
practice players to each of the sports committee to gather feedback.
Division I
In
April, the Division I Management Council referred the request to review the
issue of male practice players in women's sports to the Division I Championships/Competition
Cabinet.
At its June meeting, the Championships/Competition
Cabinet had a lengthy discussion.
It was the sense of the meeting that the Cabinet opposes the use of male
practice players. Further, it was
agreed that the use of male practice players in women's sports appears to be
having a significant impact on participation and development opportunities for
female student-athletes and that additional feedback on the issue should be
sought. As a result, the Cabinet
agreed to develop a resolution indicating that the Cabinet intends to sponsor
legislation related to the use of male practice players in all women's
sports. Prior to sponsoring the
legislation, the Cabinet will gather feedback from a variety of key
stakeholders. All feedback will be gathered in preparation for the Cabinet's
February 2007 meeting.
At its May meeting, the Division I Women’s Basketball Issues Committee discussed the issue of the use of male
practice players at length and confirmed its earlier position that the use of
male practice players in women’s basketball has helped to grow the game,
enhance the skill level in the game and provided better quality participation
opportunities for women’s basketball student-athletes.
Additionally,
at its July meeting, the Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee received
an update regarding the ongoing discussions about the use of male practice
players and reaffirmed its earlier position that it does not support a complete
ban on the use of male practice players, but does support placing limits on
their use. The student-athletes did
not specify what limits should be placed on the use of such practice players.
Division III
At
its April meeting, the Division III Management Council agreed to gather
information on the issue of male practice players from various membership
constituents. The constituents
included the Division III Virtual Focus Groups, Division III Sports Committees,
Division III NADIIIAA membership, Division III Playing and Practice Seasons
Subcommittee and the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
Based
on this feedback, the Management Council, at its July meeting, recommended the
Presidents Council sponsor legislation for the 2007 Convention to establish the
following criteria for the use of male practice players in Division III women's
sports:
·
Male practice
players should only be allowed during the traditional segment;
·
The use of male
practice players should be restricted to one practice per week;
·
The number of
male practice players allowable for each team sport should not exceed half of
the number required to field a starting unit in that sport;
·
Male practice
players must be NCAA certified to participate;
·
Male practice
players should be afforded appropriate medical coverage (NCAA Bylaw 16.4 and
Constitution 3.2.4.8); and
·
Male practice
players shall use a season of eligibility in the appropriate sport should they
continue to practice after the first contest of the traditional season (NCAA
Bylaw 14.2.4.7).
At
its August meeting, the Division III Presidents Council agreed to sponsor
legislation for the 2007 Convention.
Copies of the proposals are found in Attachment
B.
NCAA/09/29/06/TMS:rcr