REPORT OF THE

NCAA DIVISION III CHAMPIONSHIPS COMMITTEE

 

 

INFORMATIONAL ITEMS.

 

1.                  Fifty Percent Requirement Waiver Requests [NCAA Bylaw 31.3.3.2.1.1].  Waiver requests of the 50 percent in-region requirement were approved for the following institutions:  University of Dallas (baseball); Huntingdon College (football); Nebraska Wesleyan University (baseball; men’s and women’s basketball; football; men’s and women’s soccer; softball; and women’s volleyball); and Northland College (baseball; men’s and women’s basketball; men’s and women’s soccer; and softball).  The committee tabled requests from North Park University and the College of St. Scholastica pending additional information.  The committee denied a request from Juniata College for the sport of women’s volleyball based on the information provided that indicated the application was not based on geographic limitations, but a desire to compete against national competition that would allow added comparison with other institutions in Pools B and C.

 

2.         Championship Webcasting.  Accepted the information that the first full year of championship webcasting commenced with broadcasts of the field hockey, football, men’s soccer, women’s soccer and volleyball championships.  Winter championships to be webcast include men’s and women’s basketball and men’s and women’s ice hockey.

 

3.         Single-Sport Conferences.  The committee noted that although it had previously requested that questions related to this topic be included as part of a Virtual Focus Group, the committee has determined that a more appropriate forum for collecting feedback may be via NADIIIAA and conference commissioners.

 

4.         Cleveland Proposal – The Year of the Champions.  The committee approved the concept proposed by the city of Cleveland to host the following championships during the 2009-2010 year:  men’s and women’s cross country; women’s volleyball; men’s tennis; and men’s and women’s outdoor track and field.  The individual championship bids will be forwarded to the respective sports committees to be considered as part of their collective bid packages.

 

5.         Division III Men’s Volleyball.  The committee accepted information that there may be 50 Division III institutions sponsoring the sport of men’s volleyball by the 2008 season.  It was noted that legislation for the creation of a NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball Championship may be sponsored via the membership for the 2008 NCAA Convention.

 

6.         Institutional Policy against Competition on a Particular Day [Bylaw 31.1.4.1].  The committee addressed concerns related to institutions that may have elected to make exceptions to their institutional policy against competition on a particular day for religious reasons and notify the NCAA national office that they would compete Sunday in selected championships.  The committee confirmed its understanding of the legislation that in order to receive accommodation, the policy submitted by the institution must be consistent and evenly applied without exceptions throughout all sports.

7.         Sports Committee Recommendations.

 

            a.         Football.  Approved the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and the city of Salem, Virginia to serve as co-hosts for the 2008 and 2009 NCAA Division III Football Championships (Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowls).

 

            b.         Men’s Golf.  Approved Emory University and the Gwinnett Sports Commission to serve as co-hosts for the 2008 NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championships to be held at the Chateau Elan Resort in Braselton, Georgia.

 

            c.         Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving.

 

(1)        Diving Selection Criteria.  Approved that the diving selection committee select divers for the championships based on primary and secondary criteria.  If the evaluation of the primary criteria does not result in a decision, secondary criteria will be used.  The primary criterion will be a review of the videotape/DVD submitted by the diver.  The secondary criteria (not in priority order) will include head-to-head competition, strength of schedule, conference finish and consistency throughout the season.

 

(2)        Videotape/DVD Submission.  Approved that divers achieving qualifying scores be permitted to submit a videotape/DVD of any performance in bona fide competition during the qualifying period, regardless of score (i.e., divers may submit a videotape/DVD of competition other than that in which a qualifying score was achieved).

 

(3)        Membership Survey.  The committee reviewed the survey questions for a previously approved membership survey.  The committee recommended adding the following two questions:

 

(a)                Does your conference currently have combined championships?

 

(b)               How would a combined NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships impact your conference championships?

 

            d.         Men’s and Women’s Track and Field.  Approved the following institutions to serve as hosts for the 2007 regional cross country championships:  New York University (Atlantic region); Calvin College (Great Lakes region); Christopher Newport University (South/Southeast regions); and Lewis and Clark College (West region).

 

            e.         Wrestling.  Approved the recommendation to allow the NCAA Division III Wrestling Committee to continue to use historical data as part of its qualification principles and procedures.  The committee noted differences in this sport relative to other sports in which changes have been requested include the following:  1) the current number of allocations to the sport of wrestling (160) creates an imbalance between weight classes (10 weight classes); 2) the current system shows a high participation rate in conference championships with access to the national championship; 3) wrestling has been identified as an endangered sport; 4) switching the emphasis from conference championships to NCAA Regional Competition may unintentionally decrease emphasis and participation in conference championships; and 5) the committee concurred with the wrestling committee that at this point there is not a realistic method to compare wrestlers between weight classes on a national level.  The committee noted that it will continue to monitor this issue and work with the wrestling committee to explore avenues to move away from the use of historical data in the future.

 

 

 

Committee Chair:  Jeff Martinez, University of Redlands

Staff Liaison(s):          Kerri Fagan, Championships

                            Tina Krah, Championships

    John Williams, Championships

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The National Collegiate Athletic Association

February 27, 2007                             KAF:lmg