REPORT OF THE
NCAA OLYMPIC SPORTS LIAISON
COMMITTEE
1. ACTION ITEMS.
a.
World University Games.
(1) Recommendation. Sponsor legislation to specifically include the World University Games as an exception in NCAA Bylaw 14.7.5.1-(e).
(2) Rationale. The national governing bodies noted that this
legislation is necessary, inasmuch as the World University Games sometimes
occur during the academic year. Current
NCAA regulations preclude a student-athlete from participating during the
academic year on any outside, amateur team.
Other international events, such as the Olympic Games and World Cup, are
provided exceptions; however, the World University Games are not.
(3) Budget Impact. None.
b. United States General Accounting Office
(GAO) report on Four-Year Colleges’ Experiences Adding and Discontinuing Teams.
(1) Recommendation. The NCAA oppose the legislative bill
sponsored by Senator Paul Wellstone (D-Minnesota) to provide for the
revitalization of Olympic sports and request that the NCAA federal relations
office closely monitor its progress.
(2) Rationale. The committee reviewed the legislative bill from Senator Paul Wellstone. The bill included a four-part legislative solution to the problem of four-year institutions discontinuing sports teams:
(a) Directed grants to the U.S. Olympic Committee to be spent on
encouraging involvement in Olympic sports that are losing participants;
(b) The expansion of the Higher Education Act’s Olympic Scholarship
program (which presently provides financial assistance to amateur athletes who
are in training for the Olympic Games) to provide financial assistance targeted
toward those student-athletes participating in the Olympic sports shown to be
losing teams;
(c) The amendment of the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA)
to require reporting to the public the information that the Department of
Education collects from schools on spending on athletics teams; and
(d) A requirement related to the termination of sports which would
include a written statement of the justification for the termination or
reduction that includes reasons why the termination is necessary, as well as an
internal process for appealing the termination.
While the committee maintained that this is a critical and
sensitive issue, it nonetheless did not support Senator Wellstone’s bill. The committee expressed concern regarding
the last part of the bill requiring institutions to establish and publicize
procedures when discontinuing sports teams.
Most institutions have their own policies and procedures for these types
of decisions and the committee felt that the Federal act would impede
institutional autonomy.
The committee reviewed the March 2001 GAO
report, which showed that there was a percentage loss in the number of teams in
six women’s sports and 13 men’s sports at NCAA and NAIA schools between 1981
and 1999. Five of the women’s sports
and 11 of the men’s sports also were Olympic sports. The largest percentage loss in such teams occurred in women’s
gymnastics (53 percent loss) and men’s wrestling (40 percent loss). According to the report, such discontinuations
stemmed from declining student interest in these sports and from administrative
decisions of colleges and universities regarding the allocation of resources.
2. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS.
a.
NCAA research presentation on emerging
sports. Corey Bray of the NCAA research staff
presented a report on NCAA sports sponsorship, participation and international
student-athlete data. Information
included the number of institutions sponsoring emerging sports for women and
selected “endangered” men’s sports over the last six years, student-athlete
participation in those sports, and international student-athlete participation
in NCAA athletics. It was noted that
institutions must now submit these statistics via the NCAA web site, which will
help to ensure the collection of accurate data. The committee expressed concern that the data seemed to be
under-reporting international student-athletes, and recommended that
clarification of the term “non-resident alien” be distributed to those campus
constituents who are completing the form.
The committee also recommended that the NCAA Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance
Cabinet Subcommittee on Continuing Eligibility Issues review the issue of
graduation rates of international student-athletes to determine if it is
possible for graduation rates for international students to be tracked on a
sport-by-sport basis, versus sports other than football, baseball, basketball,
and track being grouped in a single category.
b. Report on the status of legislative
proposals and other actions of divisional governance entities.
The committee received an overview of Division I legislative proposals
currently in progress, and a recap of Division II and III legislation adopted
by the membership at the 2001 NCAA Convention.
Of significant importance was the adoption of an amateurism deregulation
package by the Division II membership and the
initial approval of amateurism deregulation
initiatives by the Division I Management Council. The Division I Management Council also approved, for the second
time, Proposal No. 2000-48 (Operation Gold Grants), which was adopted by the
Division I Board of Directors in late April and has an immediate effective
date.
c. NCAA sports sponsorship – Division I
revenue distribution. The committee reviewed a proposal that would
create a change in the method of counting teams for NCAA sports sponsorship
revenue distribution purposes in order to provide additional resources to
targeted sports. The committee did not
take any formal action on the proposal, but agreed to forward it to the NCAA
Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet and the NCAA Committee on Women’s
Athletics for their comments and feedback.
d.
Meetings with National Governing Bodies
(NGBs). In order to maintain ongoing communication
efforts, the committee met with representatives from USA Basketball, USA
Hockey, USA Badminton, USA Shooting, USA Volleyball, the U.S. Field Hockey
Association, the National Archery Association, the USA Table Tennis Association
and the U.S. Fencing Association.
Committee members spoke to the NGBs about the pending adoption by the
Division I Board of Directors of Operation Gold Grant funds (Proposal No. 2000-48),
as well as other issues relative to each national governing body.
e.
Election of new committee chair. The committee elected Kathy Beauregard,
director of athletics at Western Michigan University, as its new chair, effective
September 1, 2001.
f.
Other. Donna Olson, senior
associate director of athletics at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities,
announced her retirement effective July 1.
The staff liaisons have notified the NCAA committee coordinator of Ms.
Olson’s change in status to begin the process for finding a replacement. The committee noted that with the addition
of Jane Miller, senior associate director of athletics at the University of
Virginia, and Terry Don Phillips, director of athletics at Oklahoma State
University, as its newest Division I members, that the
Championships/Competition Cabinet must appoint a new member to replace Ms.
Olson who is not from a Division I-A institution, according to established NCAA
guidelines. The committee also noted that it
would be helpful to its work if the new member had significant experience with
NCAA rules and the Division I legislative process.
.