FUTURE OF NCAA DIVISION III:  REFORM AGENDA I

 

PLAYING AND PRACTICE SEASONS

 

Summary of Recommendations

 

PRESIDENTS COUNCIL ACTION ITEM

 

ISSUE:

Length of Overall Playing and Practice Seasons.

Oversight Group Legislative Recommendation:

 

a.         Length of Overall Playing and Practice Season.  Limit the length of an institution’s playing season segment to 18 weeks in fall sports, and 19 weeks in winter and spring sports.  Traditional segment calculations are done counting back from the NCAA championships selection date in the applicable sport.

 

Effective Date.  August 1, 2005 August 1, 2006. 

 

Sponsors.  Joint PC/MC Subcommittee on the Future of Division III (Playing and Practice Seasons Subgroup); College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin; Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. 

 

b.         Contest limits – traditional and nontraditional segments.  Decrease combined current traditional and nontraditional segment contest limits by 10 percent and establish combined maximums for traditional and nontraditional segments, while retaining the current caps on the maximum number of permissible contests/dates of competition in the traditional and nontraditional segment. 

 

Delayed Effective Date.  August 1, 2005  August 1, 2006.

 

Sponsor.  Joint PC/MC Subcommittee on the Future of Division III (Playing and Practice Seasons Subgroup).

 

Management Council Recommendation:

 

Sponsor legislation as a package (i.e., one proposal) for the 2004 Convention, as amended.  The Council noted:

 

l             Delayed effective dates until August 1, 2006, will facilitate implementation and accommodate for existing schedules.

 

l             The package treats all sports equitably.

 

l             The package is appropriate due to the related decrease of weeks and contests.

 

l             The combined contests (traditional and nontraditional) provides for institutional autonomy and flexibility.

 

l             The proposed legislation is responsive to the membership survey (56 percent support).

 

Sport

Traditional season
contest limit

Non-traditional season limit

Total
Traditional & Nontraditional

TOTAL*

Traditional & Nontrad-

titional reduced by 10%

Archery

15

 

15

14

Badminton

15

 

15

14

Baseball

40

5

45

41

Basketball

25

 

25

23

Bowling

26

 

26

23

Cross Country

9

 

9

8

Fencing

11

 

11

10

Field Hockey

20

4

24

22

Football

10

 

10

9

Golf

20

 

20

18

Gymnastics

13

 

13

12

Ice Hockey

25

 

25

23

Lacrosse

17

4

21

19

Rifle

13

 

13

12

Rowing

20

 

20

18

Skiing

16

 

16

14

Soccer

20

4

24

22

Softball

40

5

45

41

Squash

15

 

15

14

Swimming

16

 

16

14

Synch. Swimming

15

 

15

14

Team Handball

20

 

20

18

Tennis

20

 

20

18

Track and Field, Indoor

9

 

9

8

Track and Field, Outdoor

9

 

9

8

Volleyball, men

28

4

32

29

Volleyball, women

22

4

26

23

Water Polo

21

 

21

19

Wrestling

16

 

16

14

*All final combined season numbers equal to or greater than .5 are rounded up (e.g. 4.5 = 5; 4.4 = 4)

 

Maximum Allowable contest ranges

Sport

Traditional season contest limit

Nontraditional

Total

Baseball

36

5

41

37

4

38

3

39

2

40

1

Field Hockey

18

4

22

19

3

20

2

Lacrosse

15

4

19

16